Convergence
by LOTSlover
Summary: Sequel to my fic Darkest Before Dawn, Kahlan struggles to regain her memories so she can marry Richard, but will it happen before Demos Rahl can stop it?
1. Chapter 1

**TITLE****:** Convergence

**AUTHOR****: **LOTSlove®

**CHARACTERS****: **Richard / Kahlan

**RATING****: **R/M

**WARNINGS****:** Author Chooses Not to Use Warnings

**TIMELINE****: **Anything up through S2

**DISCLAIMER****:** I'm completely obsessed with the show Legend of the Seeker and all things Richard and Kahlan. I love to write about them even though they cancelled my show and now I'm fighting to get it back!

**SUMMARY****: ** Sequel to my fic _Darkest Before Dawn_, Kahlan struggles to regain her memories so she can marry Richard, but will it happen before Demos Rahl can stop it?

**Chapter 1**

Richard felt as if he was still dreaming as he began to rouse from his deep slumber to the feather like caress of soft lips lightly grazing his shoulder blade, tracing his toned musculature and causing a shiver of desire to suddenly ripple through his body. His own lips slowly curled into a sleepy contented smile, a barely audible moan escaping as a warm tongue snuck out to brush against his skin to steal a taste of him, teeth gently following.

He sighed dreamily as a hot wet trail was meticulously mapped out along his shoulder in a deliberate path towards his spine, long raven hair lightly skimming over his skin. The longer he let her go as she desired, the more painfully aroused he was becoming, his rapidly hardening member trapped beneath his body and begging for some much needed relief or attention – he wasn't sure which.

His breathing began to grow a little more ragged as she shifted over him a little, humming softly to herself as her breasts brushed against him as well. He groaned a little louder this time, her name a whispered plea as fingers lightly traced down his spine to his backside, causing his entire body to tense as she slowly caressed his firm buttocks.

He instantly squeezed his legs together as she began kissing him there as well, gently biting him and causing his breath to catch in his throat as she took him by surprise. A strangled moan slipped out, his fingers curling into the blanket beneath him as he struggled to hang on for dear life.

His throat instantly went dry with the slow sweet torture he was happily surrendering to, battling to stay in complete control, but knowing he was fighting a losing battle especially when it came to her. He could never resist her and now, after two long years, he no longer had to.

"Spirits!" he growled deeply, gritting his teeth and screwing his eyes even tighter closed. "Kahlan…"

Her teeth sunk into his flesh once more, her lips caressing him as she sucked hard, leaving her mark on his backside. She smiled to herself as he cursed breathlessly, his toes flexing and his body beginning to tremble as he fought to remain still and let her have her way with him, anxious to see just what she would do next to him.

Kahlan knew that she was driving him wild, but she couldn't help herself. She loved him, loved to watch him to see just what her kisses or touch actually did to him. A bite here…sensual caresses there, a long slow drag of her tongue against his heated flesh. She was memorizing every single reaction, every gasp and moan, trying to learn everything about him all over again and silently cursing herself for her lack of memories from her past.

She was already discovering how she adored driving him to the very brink, to the point where he thought he couldn't take anymore only to suddenly draw him back ever so slightly only to take him to that blissful edge again and again.

Besides that, she found she loved his ass.

She dipped her head down again, allowing her long hair to lightly skirt across him and smirking at the sight of the gooseflesh that it left in its wake. She slowly dragged her tongue along the firm muscle, pausing to nip at him again a little harder this time.

A sharp hissing intake of air though clenched teeth was his response as his hips suddenly jerked, his body shuddering with a need so fierce he thought he'd go mad. It was also her only warning as he abruptly flipped over onto his back, pulling her firmly down on top of him in one fluid motion that took her by surprise.

"You are an evil tease, Kahlan Amnell," he huskily murmured as he arched up and smashed his mouth against hers. He kissed her hard, his hands firmly gripping her arms as he hungrily devoured her.

Breaking for air, Kahlan smiled down at him, a mischeivious glint in her sapphire eyes as she moved her hips to better straddle him, her silken raven hair falling like a dark shroud around her generous breasts. "I didn't think you were ever going to wake up and play with me," she teased, wiggling her hips over his hardened member to further torment him. "I thought I was going to have to take care of myself without you."

A predatory gleam flashed through his chestnut brown eyes growing stormy with lust, his heated gaze raking intensely over her breathtaking form and causing her to shiver. He watched as her hand moved to cup her breast, her eyes fluttering closed in preparation of the pleasure her touch was about to elicit as she further teased him.

Before she could even begin, she swiftly found herself being shoved onto her back, Richard hovering over her like a mountain cat pouncing on his prey. "Oh no you don't," he huskily murmured, grabbing her hips firmly with his large hands and tilting her entrance towards him.

His lips crashed into hers again, his tongue insistently probing her mouth as his hands roamed over her entire body, fondling and probing. He kissed along her throat, pausing to tease each breast before continuing down her toned stomach. She spread her legs wide, already beginning to pant in sweet anticipation where his mouth was heading.

Richard kissed her inner thigh, nipping at the sensitive skin there and causing her to tighten her muscles in anxious excitement of where she wanted his hot mouth and tongue to be. "Richard," she breathlessly pleaded with him, her legs beginning to tremble with an overpowering need she couldn't quite understand but knew only he could satisfy.

He kissed along her other inner thigh, avoiding giving her what she so desperately wanted for a few moments longer in order to prolong her torture. She lifted her hips, squirming and trying to get his mouth to touch her where she wanted him to, but he refused, gripping her thighs firmly in his hands and holding her still as he tormented her in much the same way that she had done to him just moments ago.

The scent of her arousal was driving him absolutely crazy with an overwhelming desire to have her every way imaginable, doing to her all the things that he'd ever fantasized in his dreams. Unable to deny either of them what they both wanted, he finally gave in, tasting her fully and causing her back to suddenly arch with intense pleasure as she cried out.

Kahlan gasped sharply, her hands finding his hair and holding him against her hot center with a desperate need she couldn't begin to articulate. "Don't…stop…please…" she chanted in panting breaths. "Richard…yes…yes!"

She arched her neck, her body pleading with him to take her over that sweet precipice once more. Instead, he suddenly stopped, causing her to growl in disappointment as he began to slowly kiss along her stomach, working his way back up to her mouth again. He kissed her leisurely …deeply, taking his time and allowing her to taste herself on his tongue.

He greedily swallowed her moan as his hand snaked down her body to finally join them as one. He suddenly pushed himself into her entrance, Kahlan's body bowing again with the sudden fierce intrusion, unimaginable pleasure searing through her veins as he immersed himself fully inside of her in one powerful stroke.

Her head flew back as his name was torn from her throat, her chest thrusting up into the air. She didn't care if the whole Aku village heard her as Richard began to slide in and out of her, so hot like a flame and hard as steel. This was her Richard, the man that she loved above all else, the man she was going to marry, but not nearly soon enough.

Kahlan repeatedly raked her fingers through his hair, her toes curling into the blanket beneath her as her body began to hum with the sheer rapture thundering through her. Her blood began to pulse wildly in her ears with every bone-rattling slam of Richard's hips against hers.

She could hardly catch her breath before he was thrusting hard into her all over again, her heart hammering violently in her chest. She began to grow lightheaded with the pleasure spiking through her, her gasps mingling with his grunts as sweat trickled down between her breasts. It felt as if he couldn't possibly reach any deeper inside of her and yet he couldn't thrust deep enough. She wanted him…every single hard inch of him fully inside of her.

Her head kept rolling from side to side with the frenzy he was stirring up deep within her core, her magic rushing through her only to run in hot waves like a powerful current beneath her skin, waiting for that precise moment when sweet release would finally be granted.

Richard buried his face in the crook of her neck, losing himself to the amazing sensations coursing through him like a fierce firestorm. He wrapped his arms more firmly around her, his hands settling on her back slick with sweat, holding her tightly to him for fear of being swept away by the heated passion they were creating as he continued to piston himself in and out of her.

The breathless chanting murmur of his name was only heating his blood even further, his body moving and responding to her of its own accord, giving her absolutely everything he had, every single ounce of love that he held for her poured into each powerful jerking buck of his hips.

Just when Kahlan thought that she couldn't possibly take anymore, Richard kissed along her throat, biting and sucking hard and driving her over the edge. She felt as if she was soaring as she came with a cry of pleasure, her eyes swirling to black before returning to sapphire blue again.

Richard clung to her trembling form, driving into her a few more times before finally losing himself deep within her, his hot seed filling her so very full. His mouth found hers again, rough and yet passionate as he fought to calm down from his violent release.

"I…I can't get…enough of you," he panted heavily, kissing along her cheekbone to her ear. "I love you…so much…Kahlan. I hope…you know that."

"I love you too, Richard," she sighed, relishing the feel of his weight pressing into her and his length still buried so very deep inside of her. She never wanted this to end.

"We should probably go get cleaned up soon," Richard finally reluctantly said, kissing her one last time before rolling off of her and onto his back, his chest still rising and falling rapidly. "I'm sure they'll come looking for us soon and I want to talk to Tolla about marrying us soon."

Kahlan groaned in disappointment as she rolled onto her side so she could face him, propping her head up with her hand. "I don't ever want to leave this place," she murmured, lightly running a finger over his chest as she traced his muscles still damp with sweat.

Richard smirked at her as he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "I want to marry you and then get you back to Aydindril," he informed her.

"Why Aydindril?" she asked with a frown.

"Because that's where the Mother Confessor rules the Midlands from," he told her. "Besides, we need to get back there so Zedd can consult some of the books at the Wizard's Keep in order to help you get your memories back."

He watched as her frown deepened, her blue eyes filling with sudden sadness as she kept her focus on his chest. Rolling onto his side so he could face her, he reached out to hook a raven curl behind her ear. "What's wrong, Kahlan?" he gently asked. "Don't you want to go back to your home?"

"Not really," she thoughtfully admitted as she picked at a thread in the blanket beneath them. "I don't remember my home and after hearing about some of the things that you've told me, I don't know if I want to be a ruler or the Mother Confessor."

"Why not?"

"I don't want anything that will take me away from you," she confessed, her focus solely on the blanket, afraid of meeting his gaze for fear he'd think less of her.

"Hey," Richard said, his finger beneath her chin gently forcing her to meet his gaze. "Nothing in this world or the Underworld below could ever take you away from me, Kahlan. I won't allow it."

Kahlan smiled softly at him, her eyes brightening with his promise. "Richard, I don't even know how to rule," she insisted, her eyes falling closed in defeat. "How am I supposed to rule a whole territory when I don't even remember who I am or my past?"

"I'll be there to help you every step of the way," he reassured her, tenderly caressing her cheek still flushed with passion. "Besides, we will find a way to regain your memories. I'm not giving up on getting them back for you."

"What if it's permanent?" she asked. "What then? Are you still going to want to marry me when I can't even remember the first time I saw you? The first moment that I knew without a doubt that I loved you above all else or our very first kiss?"

"I'll just have to keep kissing you until you remember," he teased with a lop-sided grin as he nuzzled her nose with his.

She gave him her special smile before her face suddenly grew serious once again. "I feel so safe when I'm with you, Richard…like I'm home."

Her words seemed to reach right inside of him and touch his very soul as he stared at her, mesmerized by how unbelievably beautiful she truly was. Before he realized what he was doing, his lips were suddenly moving roughly against hers once more, his tongue plundering her mouth as he swiftly moved over her and pinned her to the blanket beneath her, taking what was only his to take.

The thought made him hard for her all over again as he began to ravish her with his hands and mouth. With a forceful gasp, Kahlan sucked in a sharp breath just before his mouth descended on hers all over again, a wild frenzy of passion suddenly storming inside of her again.

"Richard…" she managed to get out between heated kisses. "Sh…shouldn't we…Spirits…go get cleaned up?"

"Later," he practically growled out. "Right now, you're mine to do with as I please…and I want you again…now."

The lustful smolder in his dark brown eyes was just a brief glimpse of the heated storm that was about to rock her, a warning that she needed to hang on tight for what was about to come. It caused a violent shiver of desire to surge through her veins, knowing that she was going to be on the receiving end of that intense lust and passion, the possessiveness in his touch.

Spirits, she loved him, her body fully responding to him as his calloused hand began to roughly stroke her thigh. She couldn't help the strangled yelp that tore from her throat as he suddenly drove into her again, his large hands wrapping around her and swiftly pulling her to sit up to straddle his lap.

She clung to his rock hard body once more as he created another slow passionate build within her, praying that it would never end as his mouth latched onto her breast. She threaded her fingers through his hair, holding him against her as she rocked her hips against his.

XXX

Cara sat down next to Zedd with a huff, pulling her blond hair behind her ear with a fierce scowl on her lips. She watched as Zedd shoveled in one heaping spoonful after another into his mouth of some sort of greenish colored substance without even taking a breath.

"Cara, my dear," he managed to say in between bites. "You have got to try this porridge that Caref made. It's positively fabulous."

"It looks terrible," the Mord'Sith said with a wrinkled nose that accompanied the scowl that was already set firmly on her face.

"Now, you can't make assumptions without having tried it first," he chided her, glancing at her and noticing her sour mood. "What's wrong with you?"

"Richard and Kahlan," Cara ground out. "They've haven't left that damned Spirit House since Kahlan finally woke up yesterday. They've been in there going at it like animals in heat. It's a wonder that the village got any sleep last night."

Zedd chuckled with her words, setting his now empty bowl aside. "Cara, I think of all the people in this world, Richard and Kahlan deserve this time alone together more than anyone I know."

"I know they do," Cara reluctantly agreed. "I'm happy for them, but we still have to do something about Demos Rahl. He's not going to just sit back and let this go. He's obsessed with them. He's not going to stop until he has his hands on them again."

"Right now, they're safe and Demos has no idea where they are," Zedd pointed out. "After what they've just been through, I believe they deserve a chance to just breathe for a day or so, to reconnect with one another. After that, we'll need to head to Aydindril so we can figure out how to get Kahlan's memories back for her."

"The sooner the better," Cara muttered with a frown. "I don't think I can take the look of absolute helplessness in Lord Rahl's eyes every time he looks at her. He looks like a lost little puppy."

"Richard is really struggling with Kahlan's memory loss," he explained. "He wants the old Kahlan back much like we all do."

Cara sighed in frustration, her eyes growing distant with the fear that she had left unspoken until now. "And what if you can't unlock her memories for her? What if they are no longer there to be recovered?"

Zedd drew a deep thoughtful breath before finally responding, sharing her fears. "I guess we'll just have to find a way of dealing with it then," he admitted. "Our Kahlan is still in there somewhere. Hopefully, we'll be able to help her rebuild some of the things that she's lost."

"Well, we better do it fast because you know that Demos is going to be coming back with everything he's got," Cara reminded him, wishing more than anything that she could just get her hands on him herself and end this.

Neither Richard nor Kahlan had divulged much about what had happened with Demos Rahl, but Cara could tell by the horror that had flashed through Richard's eyes when Zedd had asked him a couple of days ago that it had been worse than anything they could begin to imagine.

"Do you think that Richard will ever tell us what happened with Demos?" she finally asked, her gaze wandering over to the Spirit House standing all alone on the far side of the village.

"I imagine he might in time, but I doubt it'll be any time soon," Zedd thoughtfully replied as he stroked his chin. "Whatever happened affected him deeply and I have a feeling that Kahlan was at the very heart of it."

Cara internally shuddered despite herself, remembering some of the horrors that Darken Rahl had submitted her to – the pain, humiliation, the utter shame. She just hoped that Demos hadn't been as sick or sadistic as his twin brother was, but she had a feeling that wasn't the case. Demos was likely worse if Richard's expression was any indication when they had asked him about it.

She just hoped that in time they'd both be able to truly heal from it all.

XXX

Demos sat in his chair in the throne room, a glass of wine in hand as he brooded over the losses that he'd received, the painful blows that he'd been dealt by the Seeker and Mother Confessor. Not only had they both escaped, but they had killed his favorite Mord'Sith, Mistress Lucinda.

With a sneer on his lips, he clutched his wine goblet even tighter in his hand, gritting his teeth with the rage burning within. He would make them suffer in the most horrifying ways possible for what they had done. Richard would experience horrific pain unlike anything he'd ever known and Kahlan…Kahlan would be his to do with as he pleased.

His sneer morphed into a wicked smirk as he imagined having her, personally breaking her and bending her to his will as he bent her over the edge of his bed and took her. She would be his greatest conquest, trained to rule by his side while Richard was nothing more than his little lap dog, chained to the floor in the corner and forced to watch as he lived his life with Kahlan.

It would slowly and painfully eat him alive, being forced to watch as Demos lived out the fantasy that Richard wanted to have with her, watching as he took Kahlan every night and every morning. He would have to listen to her as she screamed in pleasure, crying his name…not Richard's…and begging him for more.

His smirk broadened into a wicked grin at the thought, his eyes darkening with primal lust. His throat suddenly went dry with the erotic thoughts flowing through his mind. Kahlan would know such mind-numbing pain mingled with pleasure that she'd never want to leave him. She'd know what it was like to be with a real man for once.

His dark eyes began to gleam as Darken Rahl's form suddenly took shape in the large fireplace to his left. "Brother," Demos drawled, taking a long drink from his wine glass. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"I have come to see if you've found a way to get our dear brother and his Confessor back yet?"

"Not yet, but I certainly don't need your help," Demos bit out as he stood to his feet.

"Actually, quite the opposite is true," Darken calmly replied. "I'd say that you need me now more than ever."

Demos sneered at his brother as he made his way to the table, pouring himself another glass of wine. "You have done nothing to help me so far," he pointed out with a stony glare. "What makes you think you can help me now or that I'd even want your help?"

"Because I am already sending in reinforcements to aide you in your pursuit of them," Darken revealed with a dark grin.

"And who would that be?" Demos asked, looking up sharply in sudden interest.

"Sisters of the Dark," Darken informed him with a wicked grin. "They are faithful servants to the Keeper, resolved in setting him free from the Underworld. We have recently brought a wayward lamb back into the fold."

"And why would they help me?" he demanded to know.

"Let's just say that we both have an interest in what happens to Richard and Kahlan," Darken explained. "You want Kahlan and the Keeper wants Richard."

Demos considered it for a long moment. While he had wanted to keep Richard with him so he could torture him as he pleased, having him out of his life permanently was just as equally appealing. Of course, he could always go back on his deal with the Keeper.

Looking up at his faithful Mord'Sith standing guard at the doors, Demos called for them. "Mistress Sabina," he said. "There will be some guests arriving here soon. I want them brought to me immediately when they arrive"

"Yes, my Lord," she replied with a bow of her head in humble service.

"And also send Mistress Natalie to me here at once," he added with a lustful grin. "I'm going to want some assistance with relaxing while I wait for our guests' arrival."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Richard made his way back to the Aku village, walking hand in hand with the woman who had stolen his heart two years ago. He could hardly keep his eyes off of her let alone his hands or his mouth as he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

Her long wet raven hair clung to her bare shoulders, the blue dress Caref had made for her embracing her very womanly curves. The warm afternoon sunlight shone off of her flawless skin, her sapphire eyes sparkling brighter than the most perfect gems. She seemed to glow with a radiance lit from within. It only served to heat his blood even more remembering the passion they had shared last night and this morning.

It aroused his desire knowing what lay beneath that tempting blue material that perfectly draped her body, the beautiful woman that was all his and no one else's. No other man had ever touched her like he had; caressed and fondled her, taken her and reveled in the exquisite physical pleasure that she had given him. And no other man ever would as long as there was still breath in his lungs.

He had come so very near to losing her this time, the closest he'd ever come and it rattled him to his core. He didn't want to go another moment before finally marrying her and making her his wife forever. He wanted to make a family and build a home with her, but there was one who still stood in the way of his dream.

Kahlan's melodious voice suddenly cut through his thoughts, forcing him back to the moment. "What?" he asked.

"What is it, Richard?" Kahlan softly asked, a confused smile on her face as she shyly dipped her head, hooking a lock of wet hair behind her ear.

"What are you talking about?" Richard replied as his gaze narrowed, shaking his head to clear the various thoughts that still clouded his mind.

"I was just wondering why you were staring at me like that," she said.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, abruptly looking away. "It's just that so much has happened to us lately. I've been living with so much fear that I was going to lose you…never have you in my arms again. Now that you're finally safe with me, I'm just having a very hard time believing it's real. I'm so afraid that you're going to just disappear or I'll wake up to find that last night and this morning was nothing more than an amazing dream."

She squeezed his hand in response, his special smile playing on her lips. Despite not having her memory, that smile for him seemed to be a part of her that could never be erased no matter what happened. "I'm right here, Richard," she reassured him. "I'm not going anywhere without with you…I promise."

Her words caused his heart to grow warm with overwhelming love. It had felt wonderful swimming with her in the hot spring and of course the fierce passion from the Spirit House had more than carried over to their bath. They couldn't keep their hands off of each other even if they had wanted to, needing to constantly touch one another, unable to bear being apart from the other for very long. It was magical and amazing and he never wanted it to ever end.

Making love to her in the spring had been amazing, reminding him of the last time they had done that before Demos's magical spell had tried to take her away from him. "Do you remember being with me in the hot spring before this morning?" he curiously asked.

Kahlan thought for a moment, her forehead creasing as she wracked her brain for a memory that refused to surface. "I'm sorry…I don't," she finally told him, guilt springing anew inside of her. "I thought that was our first time making love in the hot springs."

Richard swallowed hard, disheartened by the fact that she couldn't remember. He had hoped that making love to her there again might help trigger the special memory that he carried with him. "It's alright, Kahlan," he told her as they reached the outskirts of the village. "I want to talk to Tolla about marrying you."

Though he tried to hide it, she could see how deeply it bothered him that she couldn't remember. She wished that she could get her memories back so he wouldn't worry so much about her. She would do anything in this world to make him smile, to erase the concern that filled his dark brown eyes every time he looked at her.

"What's the matter?" Richard asked, noticing her suddenly solemn expression. "Don't you want to get married?"

"Yes, of course I want to marry you," she confirmed with a nod of her head. "I just…I feel bad that I don't remember more about you like where you're from, who your parents are or if you have any brothers or sisters. What is your favorite food? Do you like to take long walks?"

He pulled her to a sudden stop, his thumb caressing the back of her hand. "I'm so sorry, Kahlan," he softly apologized, pulling her into his arms and holding her close to him. "If you don't want to get married now we don't have to. I should give you time to regain some more of your memories before thinking about marrying me."

Kahlan returned his warm embrace, relishing the feel of him against her, his woodsy masculine scent that drove her wild. She felt so safe when she was with him, complete in a way that she couldn't begin to describe. She didn't remember much about him, but she knew with every fiber of her being that she loved him above anything else in this world.

"It's alright, Richard," she assured him. "I want to marry you, but I just want you to be absolutely sure that you're really ready to marry me even though I may never fully regain my memories."

Richard pulled back to look into her blue eyes full of such apprehension, as if she was afraid of what his answer might be. "I'm not sure if you'll ever get your memories back," he told her, his hand come to rest against the curve of her face. "What I am absolutely sure of is that I want to wake up to your gorgeous face every morning and make love to you every night for the rest of my life. I want to have a beautiful little girl and build a home, grow old and gray with you, Kahlan."

The corner of her lips curled with his every word, a warm rush of desire and love flooding her veins as she lost herself in the chestnut brown eyes that were staring back at her, a perfect mirror to his very soul. "I love you, Richard," she murmured, tears blurring her vision.

"I love you so much, Kahlan," Richard replied, doing his best to hide his disappointment with the words that he were sticking to his tongue and yet knew he needed to say them. "We'll wait to get married for now, but I am going to court you, give you a chance to get to know me all over again."

Kahlan's heart wrestled with so many emotions in that moment, wanting so badly to marry him but feeling so confused about everything. "Richard, I don't want to make you wait to get married. If you want to get married now, we will."

"I can wait for you forever, Kahlan, as long as I have you with me," he firmly stated. "I would rather give up my own life now than have to live a lifetime without you."

Kahlan answered him with a sweet kiss, her lips moving hungrily over his. He readily returned her kiss with equal intensity, savoring the feel of her soft lips against his, the taste of her that lingered on his tongue. He never grew tired of this, of always wanting her.

Finally breaking the kiss, Richard took her face into his hands. "You mean everything to me, Kahlan… everything. I don't want you to ever forget that," he told her, breathing heavily. "There's nothing in this world that I wouldn't do for you."

"I wish I could remember what I ever did to deserve you," she softly admitted.

"It's actually me who doesn't deserve you," Richard confessed with a crooked smile. "I'm sure you'll remember that eventually."

Before Kahlan could respond, the sound of Cara's voice interrupted the sweet moment. "Alright you two," Cara called as she approached them. "I think you have had more than enough time reuniting. We need to be on our way to Aydindril soon."

"What's the hurry, Cara?" Richard asked with a frown. "The rift is sealed and the Keeper is safely locked away in the Underworld where he can't escape. I think that we more than deserve a little bit of a rest don't you?"

"Have you forgotten about your lunatic brother who is currently obsessed with getting his hands on the two of you?" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation, wondering why no one else seemed to share her worry or sense of urgency about any of this.

"No, I haven't forgotten," Richard ground out in annoyance with the reminder.

"We need to get the two of you safely back to Aydindril where you can be fully protected by the Aydindril army," Cara told them.

"Demos doesn't even know where we're at right now," Richard reminded her.

"He will not stop until he finds you and Kahlan," Cara snapped, her hands finding her hips in agitation. "You might not be so lucky the next time. The sooner we can get you safely within the walls of Aydindril and the Confessor's Palace, the better I'll feel about all of this."

"Cara, I truly appreciate your concern for us," he replied, placing a hand on her shoulder. "If it weren't for you, we'd have been killed more times than I can count. I promise that we'll leave for Aydindril in a couple of days, but right now I think we need to just enjoy the peace that we finally have.

"For once, we don't have to look over our shoulders or have to run for our lives. I want you to try and relax during this break. You deserve it just as much as we do."

Cara glared at him, a scowl on her lips as she considered his words. "Relax?"

"Yes, I want you to relax, Cara; go for a swim or go hunting in the woods, take a nap and enjoy this quiet for just a little while before the next catastrophe hits," he told her.

"Fine," she spat out, her fists clenched tightly at her sides as she suddenly spun on her heel and stormed away, muttering profanities under her breath.

Kahlan watched the Mord'Sith as she stormed away, confused about what had just happened. "Is she always so irritable like that?"

Richard chuckled softly with her question. "That wasn't irritable," he informed her in amusement. "That was just Cara being Cara. You'll definitely know it when she's irritable."

"Maybe she's right, Richard," Kahlan thoughtfully said. "Demos isn't going to stop until he has us. Maybe we should start heading to this Aydindril as soon as possible."

Richard took her hands in his, holding them firmly. "I promise I'll get you to Aydindril where you'll be safe. We'll leave in a couple of days, but for now I plan on enjoying every single moment that I have with you in this village where Demos can't find us."

"I just can't stand the thought of anything happening to you," she told him, pursing her lips. "I saw how much Demos hated you and wanted to hurt you, Richard. I won't let him try to do that to you again especially through me."

"You saved me, Kahlan," he said, his hand coming to rest on the side of her neck, his thumb caressing her jaw. "Once I get you safely to Aydindril, I'm going to stop Demos once and for all, keep him from ever hurting you ever again."

"You can't, Richard," she insisted; panic instantly filling her sapphire eyes and squeezing her throat with the thought. "I won't let you go after him because of me. We need to stay as far away from him as possible. Maybe we should go someplace where he can't find us, someplace far away."

"I can't live knowing that he's still out there, plotting and scheming to get his hands on you again," he stated, his tone hard as steel. "Besides, you need to be in Aydindril. It's the ruling seat for the Mother Confessor. The Midlands can't be without you."

Kahlan pulled away from him, her heart beginning to hammer with fear. "And I can't live with the thought of him killing you."

"I won't let that happen," he promised her.

"You don't know that for certain," she scowled, her anger flaring. "He'll go to any lengths to get to you, even using dark magic if necessary to do it. Besides that, there's the prophecy that they told us in Canecia."

It was Richard's turn to scowl with the mention of the prophecy. "I don't believe in prophecy, Kahlan," he snapped, his hands curling into fists, wondering how this had suddenly turned into an argument.

"Don't you think that maybe you should at least look into it? It might be something very dangerous, something that could take you away from me."

He released a long slow breath in an effort to rein in his building frustration. It wasn't her that he was upset with. It was Demos for interfering in their lives, for trying to take away what he loved most. It was also prophecy with the way that it always managed to twist its way into his life like a poisonous vine, creating nothing but chaos and misery.

"I don't want you worrying about it, Kahlan," he told her as he tried to take her hand in his again. "I'll talk to Zedd about it later, but for now just let me deal with it. It's probably nothing important anyways."

Kahlan jerked her hand away from his, her anger growing hotter as she glared at him. "Don't try to placate me," she yelled at him. "I'm not stupid, Richard. Just because I don't have my memories doesn't mean that I can't figure out what's going on."

"Kahlan…I never meant…" he began, stunned by her outburst.

"I saw the look on your face when Eliam quoted that prophecy to you," Kahlan bit out. "I saw the way your face grew pale and your eyes filled with fear, Richard. That wasn't just 'nothing' that you felt in that moment when you heard those words. Something about that prophecy truly scared you."

Richard stood and stared at her for a long moment, a multitude of thoughts and feelings flooding him. "Kahlan, I'm sorry," he apologized, trying to find the words to make her believe him. "I never meant to make you feel that way."

Kahlan drew a deep breath, trying to calm the anger and frustration simmering inside of her. "I just don't want to be treated any differently than you would normally treat me. Even though I can't remember my past, I must have been fairly intelligent if I'm the Mother Confessor like you say that I am."

"Yes, you are," he replied. Despite not having her memories back, she was still the same fiery Kahlan that he had fallen in love with. It brought him a small sense of relief to see her resurfacing more and more over time, her confidence beginning to return. "You are one of the most intelligent people I have ever known and losing your memory is no way a reflection on that."

"Just promise me that you won't coddle me," she insisted. "I may not remember much about who I am, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have put up with it before all of this had happened."

"No…no, you most certainly wouldn't have," he agreed. "I am sorry, Kahlan. I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's alright," she reassured him as they continued back towards the Spirit House. "It's just very hard right now. I'm struggling to figure everything out, but being treated like a child who doesn't know anything won't help me."

Richard bit back a smile, causing her to stop and scowl again at him. "What now?" she demanded in exasperation, a measure of her anger returning.

He shook his head, fighting back a grin. "It's just such a great relief to see the real you still in there even though you may not remember everything."

"There you two are!"

Richard and Kahlan turned to find Zedd walking towards them with a bowl and spoon in hand, a smile lighting his wrinkled face. "So good of the two of you to finally come out and show your faces again," he teased. "I wanted to check on Kahlan and see how you've been feeling, my dear."

"Well, according to Richard, I'm my usual self though I can't remember what that is yet," she replied, glancing sidelong at the handsome man standing beside her.

"Hopefully, I can find a way to get your memories back for you," Zedd told her. "I was actually going to see if I could spend some time with you this afternoon to see if I might be able to help things along."

"I would really appreciate anything you can do to help me," she said with a sigh. "I'll meet you back at the Spirit House. I'm going to finish getting ready."

"I'll be there in a minute," Richard told her. "I need to talk to Zedd."

Kahlan stared at him for a long moment, trying to determine what the Seeker was up to before finally giving up and leaving him alone with the wizard. She hoped that he was going to discuss the prophecy that they had learned in Canecia and not her. He worried far too much about her and not enough about himself. Demos wanted him dead and it terrified her more than she carried to think about.

Richard studied her as she walked away, relishing the sight of her perfect form as he released a heavy sigh that Zedd immediately noticed. "What's wrong, my boy?" he asked with a concerned frown.

"I'm just still worried about Kahlan," he admitted. "She's really struggling right now. She feels so lost though she tries her best to hide it from me. She also feels that I'm coddling her, but I'm only trying to protect her."

"From what?" he questioned his grandson, noticing that he was holding something more back.

"When we were in Canecia where we found the Stone of Tears, Eliam told us about a prophecy," he informed him. "Kahlan must have picked up on my apprehension when they told it to us."

"You don't take any stock in prophecy," Zedd replied as he licked his spoon. "Why did this one affect you so much now?"

"It said 'fuer grissa ost drauka will follow his heart's deepest desire, but doing so will only cause him to lose it forever to a path already travelled'," Richard quoted for him. "Any idea what it could possibly mean?"

Zedd's wiry eyebrows knitted together in thought as he contemplated the words. "Well, you already know that fuer grissa ost drauka is you of course and your heart's deepest desire is Kahlan."

"I already know that part, but it's the second part that made my insides twist into knots," Richard stated, anger lacing his voice. "It's talking about losing Kahlan forever to a path already travelled if I pursue her, but what is that path? How am I going to lose her?"

"I'm not sure," Zedd mumbled, thoughtfully glancing at his grandson. "Prophecy has never affected you this deeply before. Why is it upsetting you this time?"

"I don't know," he confessed, shaking his head as he drew a ragged breath. "All I know is that when I heard that prophecy, it felt like ice water washing through me. It was as if Kahlan was already gone forever and there wasn't a damn thing I could do to stop it."

XXX

Demos stood before a map of D'Hara that lay spread out over his desk. He had made numerous marks on it where there had been witnessed sightings of Richard and Kahlan since escaping from the People's Palace. Unfortunately, none of the scouting parties had found them as of yet.

He thoughtfully began to wonder where exactly they were hiding out. It had to be somewhere to the south of the Palace, possibly southeast…maybe southwest. He ran the tip of his finger along the direction they seemed to have last been heading. There wasn't anything in that area except for dense forests and some primitive villages.

Sitting down in his chair, Demos began to rub his chin as he thought through all of the possibilities. "Where are you Kahlan?" he murmured to himself.

He knew that now that the rift was sealed and the Keeper was no longer a looming threat, they would no doubt be making their way back to Aydindril. Richard and Kahlan would want to make a run home to the Midlands in order to secure the ruling seat of the territory before waging an attack on him.

He had no qualms about the fact that Richard would want to wage a counter-attack against him in an attempt to take over the throne. His brother was next in line to rule D'Hara and Demos was not about to give it up for any reason, especially to Richard Rahl.

Leaning forward, Demos grabbed his goblet of wine, taking a long drink as he thought about his options. He didn't like the idea of an alliance with his deceased twin brother, but he was running out of choices. He wanted Kahlan back and he wanted her now. Making Richard suffer would just be an added plus.

Knowing he was in the deepest pits of the Underworld suffering for all eternity did hold a certain amount of attraction to it, but he wanted to see it for himself, watch him as he repeatedly begged for death. It would be a desperate futile plea that would never be granted.

A sudden knock at the door, tore him from his brooding thoughts. "Enter!" he snapped.

The doors opened to reveal Mistress Sabina. "Lord Rahl, your guests have arrived," she announced.

"Show them in," he ordered, standing to his feet.

Demos moved to stand by the fireplace, watching as nine Sisters of the Dark enter, dressed in gauzy orange dresses that billowed around them. They were led into the room by a beautiful blond woman, her eyes hard and full of resolve and purpose.

A smile slowly formed on his lips as he allowed his suddenly hungry gaze to roam over her exquisite feminine form. He had heard rumors about her, but now here she was before him, larger than life and here to do his every bidding.

"Mistress Nicci, I assume," Demos drawled, a sinful smirk playing on his lips as she came to a stop before her.

Her lips twitched with the way that he leered so darkly at her, her expression hardening like stone. "Yes," she coldly stated.

"I had heard that you had broken free from the Keeper's hold on you," he said as he slowly walked around her, his hands clasped behind his back as he inspected his newest prize.

"My fellow Sisters managed to capture me, helped me to see the error of my ways," Nicci smoothly replied, stiffening as Rahl dragged a single finger along her shoulder and down her slender arm.

"And now you are here to do my bidding," Demos told her as he came to a stop before her again. His smile had somehow managed to become even darker.

"I am here to do my master's will," she sneered. "You are inconsequential to me and my Sisters."

Demos chuckled softly as he stared into her green eyes. "We'll just have to see about that, my dear Nicci."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Kahlan sat before Zedd with her eyes closed as the wizard began to use his magic to probe her mind in hopes of recovering her lost memories. She felt a nervous wave rising inside of her as he touched her temples with his fingertips, afraid that she might never get her memories back.

She could feel Richard sitting right next to her, his presence bringing her a measure of much needed peace. She instinctively reached out to him, searching for and finding his hand. She quickly laced her fingers through his, holding onto her lifeline…her soul-mate.

Richard smiled to himself as he moved his other hand to wrap around their joined hands, loving how she wanted him there with her…needed him. Despite not having her memories, the bond that they shared was still there and stronger than ever before it would seem.

He couldn't stop staring at her, admiring how absolutely beautiful she truly was. She had her hair gathered up and secured at the back of her neck, a few errant curls falling free and revealing the slender column of her neck that he loved to kiss.

She looked so regal and noble, so very much like the powerful Mother Confessor that he knew her to be though she had no idea of the extent of the powerful magic that flowed through her veins or the absolute authority she held with her title.

Zedd suddenly sat back with a huff of annoyance, causing Kahlan to open her eyes in surprise. "What is it?" she asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes," Zedd grumbled. "You need to stop thinking about Richard. You're mind is filled with nothing but him."

A rosy blush suffused her face and neck as she cast a sidelong glance at her Seeker who had a dreamy grin on his face. That smile on his lips and the darkening lust in his eyes was not making her blush fade away any faster. She suddenly felt like a deer about to be pounced on by a ravenous gar.

"I'm sorry," Kahlan murmured in embarrassment, pulling her hand free from Richard's hold on her much to his disappointment. "I'll try to clear my mind of all distractions"

Zedd turned to Richard, a frown on his weathered face. "Richard, my boy, I think it would be better if you go find Cara or have a nice long chat with Tolla until I'm done."

"What? No way!" Richard exclaimed, taking Kahlan's hand in his again. "I'm not leaving her."

"Richard, it'll be alright," Kahlan reassured him.

Zedd stared at them for a long moment before finally relenting. "Fine, you can stay, but stand over there so she's not distracted by you."

Richard looked to where Zedd was pointing which was on the far side of the clearing in the woods that they had found so they could be alone. With a frown, the Seeker reluctantly made his way to where he had been directed to go wait.

With a huff, he turned on his heel, positioning himself so he could carefully watch Kahlan and Zedd. Leaning his back against the trunk of a thick tree, he folded his arms against his chest, a scowl firmly on his lips. He didn't like being this far away from her especially with his grandfather working on restoring something that may or may not ever come back.

He hated this, hated everything about it. It was unfair for this to have happened to her…to them…especially now. They had finally been able to be together the way that they'd wanted ever since meeting for the first time two years ago, the rift was sealed and the Keeper safely in the Underworld where he belonged. Things were finally falling into place for them except now she didn't remember him, their past together.

Everything inside of him ached to fix all of this for her, to make it all better for her. She deserved to be happy, to have nothing but love in her life. They'd suffered far too much in their quests to defeat evil for her to be left with no memories like this.

"I'm sorry, Zedd," Kahlan softly said, hooking an errant curl behind her ear. "I'll try to keep my mind clear so you can work."

Zedd smiled affectionately at her as he patted her knee. "Don't worry about it, my dear. I'm very happy for the two of you," the Wizard reassured her. "Now that we've gotten rid of the distraction maybe we can make a little progress now."

Kahlan smiled shyly in response, suddenly nervous about what sort of things Zedd was going to be finding in her mind. She did her best to suppress the memories of the passionate love that she and Richard had made since she'd woken, but it was next to impossible. She'd never known love like this or at least couldn't remember it.

Lifting his hands, Zedd placed the tips of his fingers against her temples again as his eyes fell shut. "Alright, just relax and try to keep your mind clear."

Kahlan closed her eyes, taking a long slow deep breath in an effort to squelch the passion still thrumming through her. She forced herself to remain calm, to think of nothing but her surroundings – the clear blue sky above, the warmth of the sun on her face, the smell of the grass and trees, the sounds of the birds singing around her.

She allowed the tranquility encircling her to fully wrap around her, to encompass her and hold her. She felt the warm trickle of Zedd's magic as it began to weave and wind its way in and through her mind, searching for something that she so desperately hoped could be found.

She could feel the gentle prodding of his magic as he tried to remove anything that could possibly be lingering inside, keeping her memories from resurfacing. He had warned her before they had even started that there was a chance that her mind could have been completely erased by the spell that Demos had placed on her, but the fact that she had been able to remember shards of events made him more optimistic about it.

"How's it going?"

Richard turned his head to find Tolla Nakunam coming to stand beside him, his gaze focused on Kahlan and Zedd on the far side of the clearing. "They're just starting," Richard informed him, his annoyance abundantly obvious.

A smile pulled at Tolla's lips as he turned his attention to the Seeker beside him. "So why were banished over here?"

Richard straightened up a little in indignation as he turned to look at the Aku warrior. "How did you know?"

"It's painfully obvious," Tolla replied with a chuckle. "You are standing over here when you clearly wish to be over there. Besides, you have not left Confessor Kahlan's side since she woke. I doubt that you would be this far away from her unless you had been commanded to by Zedd."

Richard's frown deepened as he leaned his back against the tree trunk again, his gaze solely on Kahlan. "He couldn't work on regaining her memories with me so close to her," he admitted. "It was distracting her too much."

Tolla's chuckle returned with a vengeance though he tried to stifle it in order to keep from interrupting the wizard as he worked. Richard turned an angry eye on his newfound friend, annoyed by his amusement at his expense.

"What's so funny?" Richard demanded to know.

"You and Kahlan, Seeker Richard," Tolla told him as he leaned his back against the same tree. "You remind me so much of me and Caref after we were bound as one. We couldn't get keep our hands off of each other for weeks. Everyone grew tired of being around us for a while there…at least after we finally decided that we should leave our hut before everyone forgot what we looked like."

Richard's anger began to fade as the Tolla spoke, the warm thrum of love filling his veins once more as he watched Kahlan. "So does this feeling of exhilaration ever fade?"

A wide grin formed on the Tolla's face, a contented sigh escaping his lips. "Oh no, my friend," he said. "True love never fades. It only grows stronger, but life does have a way of making sure it doesn't totally consume you. Responsibilities and children will soon take some of the time you now share, but it makes it no less marvelous."

"I want to marry her so badly it hurts," Richard confessed, disappointment lacing his voice.

"Why not get married here?" Tolla asked. "We could put on a wonderful bonding party for the two of you."

"I'd love that more than anything, but I'm afraid I'm pushing Kahlan too much," he told him. "She's been through so much lately. On top of that, she doesn't remember anything about her life let alone me. It's not fair to her to push her into suddenly becoming a wife when she doesn't even remember being Kahlan or the Mother Confessor."

Tolla thoughtfully pondered his words for a long moment as he poked at the dirt at his feet with the end of his staff. "That is a very noble sacrifice to make, Seeker Richard, but how does Kahlan feel about it?"

"She's feeling very lost and uncertain though she tries to hide it from me," he said. "She's trying to put up a strong front, but I can tell that she's scared."

Tolla turned his head to study the Seeker, his brow furrowing in thought. "There's something more that's holding you back."

Richard drew a ragged breath, his jaw growing tense as the sick dread that had been swimming in the pit of his stomach since the prophecy had been revealed returned with a vengeance. "There was a prophecy that was revealed about Kahlan and me when we found the Stone of Tears. It basically says that if I pursue my heart's deepest desire I will lose it forever to a path already travelled."

"Confessor Kahlan is obviously your deepest desire," Tolla thoughtfully murmured as he tried to untangle the meaning. "You are scared that if you marry her, you'll lose her forever."

Richard's throat constricted painfully with the Tolla's words, forcing him to slowly nod his head in acknowledgment. It was too difficult to try to form a coherent response, too afraid his voice would fail him or the fears that he felt would break through the damn that he'd erected to hold them in.

A reassuring hand on his shoulder caused him to relax, but only minutely. "Seeker Richard, I'm so very saddened by this news," Tolla said, his face solemn. "If there is anything that I or the Aku can do to help you and Kahlan become bonded as one, you know that we will."

"Thank you for that, Tolla," Richard softly replied as he gaze returned to his lover. "That means a lot."

Zedd began to chant softly to himself, a jumble of indecipherable words that Kahlan couldn't begin to understand. Time seemed to slow to a standstill the longer he worked, her mind swimming and her body feeling heavy. A subtle wave of pain began to build and settle in her head, causing her to squeeze her eyes tighter closed.

Kahlan fought to stay focused on what Zedd was trying to do for her, wanting so desperately to recover what had been stolen from her. Her hands moved from her lap to grasp her legs, her finger clutching her knees. Her heart began to beat a little harder, sudden dizziness beginning to make her stomach churn.

Thoughts and feeling began to swirl inside of her mind as Zedd probed deeper, causing her to tighten her grasp on her knees. She winced as the pain began to expand, the pressure in her head building. Tears began to form behind her closed eyes as she struggled so hard to grasp hold of the thousands of fractured memories and events that flew through her mind at a rapid speed that was making her more nauseated by the moment.

Her lips parted slightly as her breathing became more ragged. She felt her entire body grow tense as the dizziness intensified. It felt as if she was spinning out of control, taking her stomach with it. The pain suddenly became blinding, her hands finding her head and clutching it tightly in an attempt to keep it from exploding.

"Stop! Please, stop!" she cried. "Please, Zedd! Stop!"

Kahlan bolted to her feet, running towards a tree as Richard raced towards her. She bent over, violently vomiting her lunch into the brush as she sunk to her knees. A sudden hand on her back, another holding her hair back told her she was no longer alone.

"It's alright, Kahlan," Richard murmured, rubbing her back as she vomited again.

She trembled all over as she sank back on her heels, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Richard handed her a water skein, allowing her a chance to clean her mouth and hands. He looked back over his shoulder at Zedd, finding a troubled expression on his grandfather's face. It did nothing to settle his own panic over what was happening to his Confessor.

Kahlan felt unexpected exhaustion rise up within her out of nowhere, making it more than difficult to keep her eyes open as she handed the water skein back to Richard. She rubbed her temples, trying to remove the throbbing pain that still lingered there.

Richard wrapped his arm around her shoulders, helping her up to her feet. He kept a tight hold on her as he helped her back to where Zedd and Tolla were standing. "I'm sorry, Kahlan," Zedd apologized. "Are you alright, my dear?"

Kahlan numbly nodded her head, fighting to keep her eyes open. "Just very tired right now."

"Come, let's get you back to the Spirit House so you can rest for a while before dinner," Richard suggested, wanting desperately to talk to Zedd to find out what he had discovered and what had caused Kahlan to react the way that she had.

"What happened to Confessor Kahlan?" Tolla asked as they watched the Seeker and Confessor walk away.

"She had an adverse reaction of some kind either to the magic or from her memories trying to return," Zedd muttered under his breath, his brow knitted together in thought.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that things just became very complicated," Zedd admitted with a shake of his head.

XXX

Richard stood by the door of the Spirit House, watching Kahlan as she slept. He needed to go see Zedd about what had happened to her and yet he didn't want to leave her side. Something had happened to her when Zedd had tried to recover her lost memories and he needed to find out why.

Stepping out into the bright afternoon sunlight, Richard spotted Cara coming towards him, a very worried expression on her face. "What happened?" she demanded to know. "Is she alright?"

"Zedd was using his magic to search Kahlan's mind for her memories," Richard explained. "She got sick for some reason, but she's sleeping now. I'm going to go talk to Zedd. Can you stay with her in case she needs anything?"

"It's not like I have anything else to do around here," Cara sullenly replied with a frown.

"Cara, please," Richard snapped. "I know you want to leave, but we have bigger problems right now than Demos. Something is still wrong with Kahlan."

"Obviously," Cara shot back in exasperation. "She looks at me as if I'm going to eat her for dinner or something."

"She's scared, Cara," Richard heatedly stated, his frustration brewing just beneath the surface seeking release. "I'm the only one she really remembers and even that is nothing more than a handful of fractured memories that she can't piece together."

"Go talk to Zedd," Cara told him. "I'll be right here when you get back."

"Thanks, Cara," he muttered, his shoulders sagging slightly with relief as he turned to leave.

"Richard," Cara softly called to him. "It'll be alright. Kahlan is strong. She'll get through this."

"I hope so," he murmured as he walked away.

Zedd and Tolla entered the village from the far side, the wizard's expression bewildered. It only caused Richard's own fear to soar, wondering what exactly he'd found. "Zedd!" he called. "What happened to Kahlan?"

Zedd drew a weary breath, unsure where to begin. "I'm not exactly certain, but it seems that the spell that Demos had placed on Kahlan before was actually a multi-layered spell."

"What's a multi-layered spell?" the Seeker asked, his heart beginning to pound a little harder with the dread that was steadily building inside of him.

"There was the initial spell that took over Kahlan's mind," Zedd explained. "She was somehow able to break the hold that spell had on her, no doubt through her love for you. When that spell was broken, it triggered another spell that wiped out her memories."

"So there was a spell hidden within a spell," Richard said, trying to process all of this.

"Yes, but when I probed her mind, I discovered a third spell hidden inside of the second spell," Zedd replied with a scowl.

Richard visibly blanched with the revelation, what little hope that had still been reflected in his eyes now gone. "What kind of spell?" he asked in a semi-whisper, his voice suddenly hoarse.

"It tries to counter any attempts to retrieve her memories that involves magic," Zedd informed him, his own anger visible in his eyes. "It's what caused her to become so violently ill when I tried to unlock her mind."

"This can't be happening," Richard muttered, raking his fingers back through his hair. He'd had such high hopes that his grandfather would be able to get them back for her. Now they might be truly lost forever. "So I guess that's it. There's nothing more we can do for her?"

"Wee, there is some good news in the middle of this thorny mess," Zedd told him. "Her memories are there. They're just locked away where she can't quite get to them."

"At least they haven't been permanently erased," Richard murmured, the small spark of hope that had been extinguished suddenly flickering back to life.

"Why don't we talk to Odo?" Toll suggested. "Maybe he can give Confessor Kahlan something for the pain and nausea so Zedd can unlock her memories for her."

Zedd thought for a long moment, rubbing his chin as he considered Tolla's suggestion. "It's certainly worth a shot," he decided. "We'd have to let Kahlan decide if she wants to go through it again, though."

"I'll talk to her when she wakes up," Richard agreed. "I can't blame her if she decides not to go through it again."

"She was in quite a bit of pain," Zedd admitted. "It was even beginning to affect me. This is a pretty nasty spell we're dealing with. I was surprised she was able to hold on for as long as did before she suddenly got too sick to handle it any longer."

"I could tell she was fighting to hold on for as long as possible," Richard confessed.

Zedd placed a hand on Richard's shoulder, his expression still grim. "There's more that you should know, Richard."

Fear flashed through Richard's chestnut brown eyes as he braced himself for the worse. "What is it?"

"By trying to resurrect her memories, we could end up causing Kahlan more pain than just physical," he informed him. "We will be forcing her to relive many painful events that she's endured throughout her life, resurrecting some dreadful memories that she'll have little time to really process it all. Once the damn is finally broken, they could start coming one right after another like an overwhelming flood. There's no telling how she'll handle it or if she'll even be able to."

Richard thought through the things that Zedd had just told him. It was going to be a painful gamble; one that he hoped would be for her best in the end. Ultimately, it would have to be her decision if she chose to continue down this path.

"What do you think we should do?" Richard finally asked, his voice broken like his heart.

"We should warn Kahlan about the risks and let her decide for herself," Zedd decided. "This could go either way, Richard. It could either overwhelm her, breaking her mind or she'll come through this with her memories and her mind intact."

"Tolla!"

All three men turned to find Temin coming towards them, a panicked expression on his tanned face. "What is it?" Tolla demanded.

"Several D'Haran soldiers were spotted coming this way from the northeast," he informed them.

"How many?"

"At least twelve…maybe more."

"Gather the warriors," Tolla ordered. "I want half to stay back to protect the village, the rest are to come with us."

"I'm coming too," Richard announced, his hand already falling to the hilt of his sword, checking to make sure it was clear in his scabbard.

"Richard, they can't know that you're here," Zedd reminded him. "If one of them escapes and gets back to the People's Palace, Demos will know where you and Kahlan are."

"Then we'll just have to make sure that we don't leave anyone alive to tell them, right Seeker Richard?" Tolla said with a grin, slapping the Seeker on the back. "Let's go."

"Can you please stay with Kahlan?" Richard asked Zedd. "I'll be back soon."

"Be careful," Zedd grumbled, not liking this one bit. "We can't afford to have you out of commission too."

Richard responded with a forced smile in an attempt to reassure his grandfather. "Don't worry, Zedd. I'll be back before you know it."

XXX

The Seeker swung his sword with deadly precision, a growl of righteous rage passing through his lips. He breathed hard as he glared down at the dead body lying motionless at his feet, his mind still storming with fury and his heart racing with a desperate need for vengeance.

He wanted to go to the People's Palace right now, to end his brother Demos once and for all. Every time he thought that he finally had gotten Kahlan back, he discovered that Demos had done something more to take Kahlan away from him.

He was seething inside with the way his brother had wormed his way into his life, trying to break him and Kahlan. He wanted his brother's blood to coat his sword, to know that Kahlan would finally be safe forever, but he couldn't leave. Not now. Kahlan needed him right now and that was far more important than getting revenge on his brother for what he had done to her.

Demos could wait for a little longer, Kahlan could not.

"Richard! Behind you!" Tolla yelled.

Richard spun on his heel, thrusting his sword through the D'Haran soldier who had snuck up on him from behind. He quickly moved on to another one, more than angry with himself for allowing his thoughts to wander instead of focusing on the battle at hand. It had been a foolish mistake.

The dozen or so soldiers that Temin had spotted had turned out to be closer to two dozen, the rest of the patrolling party pouring out of the woods when they discovered their comrades under siege by the Aku warriors.

Breathing heavily, Richard looked around at all the dead D'Haran soldiers scattered on the ground, thankful that none of the Aku were among them. Wiping the blood from his blade, he sheathed his sword. He was more than anxious to get back to Kahlan to see how she was doing. Looking to the sky, he was surprised to find the sun already sinking behind the trees, evening approaching.

"Seeker Richard, you're bleeding," Tolla noted with a frown as he pointed at Richard's shoulder.

Richard looked at his right shoulder to find a large tear in his shirt, blood oozing from a deep gash. "One of the soldiers got a lucky shot in," he replied. "It's not bad."

"Odo can look at it for you," Tolla suggested.

"Zedd can heal it in no time," Richard reassured him. "Let's get back to the village. It's later than I had thought."

Tolla grinned widely in understanding. "You just miss your Confessor Kahlan," he teased him. "We will need to build a new Spirit House after you two leave."

Richard couldn't hide his own grin that suddenly lit his face with the reminder of the erotic passion that had been shared between him and Kahlan in the Spirit House. He was more than anxious to get back to her, to check on her and to make sure she was alright. He hated being away from her any longer than necessary, but it had felt good to unleash some of his anger on Demos's men.

"I'll just be happy once I know that she's going to be alright," Richard admitted as they began to make their way back to the village.

"I'm sure Confessor Kahlan will be fine," Tolla attempted to reassure him. "You and Kahlan are meant to be together like two parts of the same soul. Nothing can break that."

"I hope you're right," Richard sighed heavily.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you all for reading! So happy there are still Seeker fans out there reading my stuff. Hope you enjoy the update! :)**

**Chapter 4**

Darken Rahl stood staring out over the vast expanse of the Underworld, suffering and groaning and writhing as far as the eye could possibly see and far beyond even that. It both pleased and infuriated him at the same time.

He wanted out of this nightmare, wanted back into the world of the living where he belonged. He wanted his throne back no matter what it took to get it. He didn't deserve to be punished like this, forced to watch as his twin brother ruled his territory in his place.

He still had great plans that he wanted to accomplish – plans that included destroying Richard, taking over Westland and the Midlands, becoming the ultimate ruler where everyone would bow down at the name of Darken Rahl.

He clasped his hands behind his back, seething that down here in the Underworld he was the Keeper's minion, doing his bidding and yet he knew it was better than the alternative, to be cast down there with commoners enduring unbelievable pain and suffering for all eternity.

No matter, though. He had a plan to get himself out of here, one that he could afford to bide his time as it played itself out.

The key to his plans lay in the hands of Death's Mistress, Sister Nicci. If the Sisters of the Dark hadn't been able to capture her and perform the ritual that forced her back into the Keeper's service, he knew that his fate would've been sealed, his place in the Underworld permanent with no hope of escape.

Sister Nicci was one of the few magical beings powerful enough to perform the ritual that would save him from this horror. He needed her if he wanted to get back to his life. He didn't know how much longer he could stand watching Demos living the life that he should be living.

He was the one who had obtained all the power and wealth. He was the one who had held D'Hara in the palm of his hand, the one who had built the Mord'Sith into what they were today. He was the one who should be enjoying the fruits of his labors, not Demos.

The corners of his lips suddenly curled with the thought of taking care of both of his brothers once he escaped from this hell. His pleasurable thoughts were abruptly cut short by the deep rumbling summons of the Keeper's voice.

Darken turned, falling on bended knee as he bowed his head in forced reverence. "I am here, my lord," he replied.

A dark shadow fell across his prostrate form, hovering over him as the Keeper drew near. "Are you certain that your plan will work?"

Darken dared to glance up through his eyelashes as he responded, "It must, my lord. Sister Nicci will not fail us."

"She has broken free from my hold on her before," the Keeper reminded him. "I do not want to lose her again."

"The ritual should have taken care of that," Darken attempted to reassure him. "She should fully be yours to command again now."

"This plan of yours had better work," the Keeper growled. "I want Richard Rahl. Because of him, my hope of escaping this prison is forever gone now. I plan on making him pay dearly for all eternity."

"And you shall have him, my lord," he promised. "You will have Richard Rahl and I will have my brother."

"And what about Kahlan Amnell?" the Keeper demanded to know. "The Mother Confessor must not escape punishment for her involvement in this."

A dark smile spread across Darken Rahl's face as he thought about the beautiful Mother Confessor. "No need to worry, my lord," he told him. "She too will enjoy her own private hell…I assure you of that."

XXX

Richard entered the Spirit House, somewhat surprised to find Kahlan still asleep. She looked so peaceful, so beautiful as she slept...his Kahlan. Even if she never remembered her past or how they fell in love, she'd always be his Kahlan. Nothing could ever change that.

The crackling of the small fire in the middle of the large hut was the only sound as he watched her for a moment, the only source of light as the sun began to set. It cast a soft ethereal glow upon her perfect features, making his heart skip a beat.

He silently made his way to her, kneeling down beside her. His hand settled in her hair, his thumb gently caressing her cheek. "Kahlan," he softly called to her, hating to wake her up but he needed to talk to her, make sure she was alright. "Kahlan, it's time to wake up."

Her eyelids fluttered open to find her handsome Seeker beside her, his gentle brown eyes focused on her. "Richard?" she murmured, feeling a little confused as awareness began to replace unconsciousness.

Her mind felt so muddled, her head still pounding fiercely. Her forehead creased as she fought to clear the hazy fog that still clouded her thoughts, trying to remember what had happened and how she had gotten here. She looked around finding herself in the Spirit House, her gaze finally settling back again on her Seeker.

"What happened?" she asked him as she slowly sat up, the blanket he'd covered her with earlier slipping from her body.

Richard settled himself on the bedroll before her, his eyes swimming with renewed worry. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Kahlan rubbed her face with her hands in an effort to banish the lingering fatigue as well as the headache that refused to leave before finally responding. "I remember Zedd… he was using his magic to find my memories," she replied, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she thought back over the afternoon. "My head started hurting so badly I could hardly stand it and then…I don't know after that. The next thing I knew, you were here waking me up. What happened to me?"

"I'm afraid you got really sick," he informed her. "I brought you back here to rest for a while. Are you feeling any better?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she muttered, trying to remember what had happened before coming to the Spirit House. She remembered suddenly getting sick by that tree, the blinding pain in her head and then after that…nothing.

Richard studied her for a long moment, not convinced in the least by her response. "You do remember I told you before that you're a terrible liar, right?" he reminded her, a crooked smile on his face as he tried to ease her worry and lighten the mood a little. His own worry wouldn't settle, however, until she was Kahlan again and Demos was in the Underworld with their brother.

She forced a smile, one that never reached her sapphire eyes still filled with bewilderment. "It's just a headache. It's not that bad," she attempted to reassure him. Unfortunately, she didn't sound very convincing even to herself. "Was Zedd able to figure anything out?"

Richard took Kahlan's hand in his, trying to find the words to tell her what his grandfather had discovered. "It turns out its going to be harder to get your memories back than what we had originally thought."

"Why?" she asked, her voice rising with her growing panic. "What is it, Richard? What did Demos do to me?"

"The original spell to gain control of your mind contained counter spells within it," he explained. "There's another hidden spell that is keeping your memories locked inside of your mind. When Zedd tried to recover them, it caused you to get violently ill."

Her throat suddenly filled with a painful knot of angry tears, but she did her best to banish them as she braced herself for the worse. "This is going to happen every time he tries to retrieve them, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid so, Kahlan," he admitted, his heart breaking even further with the anguish that permeated her eyes. "Tolla suggested that Odo give you something for the pain and nausea to see if it helps while Zedd tries to access your memories again, but you don't have to do it unless you really want to. You don't have to put yourself through that again, Kahlan. We can try to find another way to get them back for you.

"You were able to remember a few things on your own since you lost your memory. Maybe with time, things will continue to improve on their own."

Kahlan averted her eyes as she tried to deal with this new revelation. She felt her anger burning hotly inside of her, furious over Demos's incessant interference in their lives, his constant efforts to control her. All she wanted was to regain her memories and marry Richard, to build a life with him and to have his child.

Now, that was becoming more than just a wishful dream.

"No, I want to try again," she insisted with a determined shake of her head as she stood to her feet, wrapping her arms around herself as if physically trying to hold herself together. "I have to try again. I want to remember my life, Richard…I want to remember you. I know in my heart that I love you with everything that I am, but I want to remember why. I'll do whatever it takes to get that back."

"Kahlan," Richard whispered her name, overcome with love for her.

He closed the distance between them, his lips finding hers in a slow deep kiss. Her lips parted, allowing him to fully taste her as her hands found his hair. He always seemed to sooth her soul and calm her fears like nothing else could. He created a fierce fire deep within her core, awakening a primal need that only he could satisfy.

Breaking the kiss, she released a long slow breath, trying to rein in the flaming desire that he had ignited with that kiss. "What was that for?" she breathlessly murmured, pressing her forehead against his cheekbone and savoring his closeness.

Richard tilted his head, brushing his lips against her jaw. "Because I love you more than anything in this world," he softly told her as he nuzzled her face, his heart beating a little harder. Her nearness, her kisses were beyond intoxicating. He couldn't get enough of her. "And I want you so badly right now."

His special smile suddenly graced her face as she pulled back a little, her finger lightly tracing his lips that she loved to kiss. "Then why don't you do something about it, Seeker?" she seductively inquired.

The feel of her finger softly outlining his lips was making him tingle all over, his desire growing hotter as his self-control quickly began to fade away to nothing. He knew they should wait until later tonight especially since the Aku were planning a special feast for tonight because the Keeper had been defeated.

At the same time, he found it near impossible to pull himself away from her, to take his eyes off of her. Her scent was like sweet ambrosia to his soul making him lightheaded with a need so fierce it could not be denied no matter how hard he tried.

"They're preparing a feast in our honor tonight," he told her, his voice husky and rough with desire.

His lips softly caressed the tip of her finger before taking it inside of his mouth, his warm tongue swirling around the digit and sucking gently. He watched as her blue eyes widened, a soft gasp escaping as she watched him release her finger only to lightly blow across it.

"I'm sure they won't mind if we're a little late," she said, completely captivated by him.

"Kahlan, if I start this, I'm not going to be able to stop any time soon," he replied, doing his best to tamp down on the arousal pumping through his veins at that moment. "I can never get enough of you."

She smiled softly in response, her hand moving to cup his cheek. "I feel the same way."

"As soon as the feast is over, I will bring you back here and make love to you until neither one of us can move anymore," he promised her with a grin.

"I'd love that," she murmured, wanting more than anything to forget the heartache that was consuming her life right now if only for a little while.

She pressed her lips to his, kissing him deeply and desperately hoping to change his mind as her arms moved to circle around his neck. She pressed her body against him as well, feeling the evidence of his arousal against her belly. She smiled to herself, loving the affect that she had on him and knowing that he had just as powerful of an effect on her too.

Richard quickly lost himself to the building passion her kisses always provoked in him. He tilted his head, taking her bottom lip between his teeth and nipping lightly on it before sucking on it. She moaned with the pleasure that shot through her as he buried his hands in her hair, holding her right where he wanted her.

He finally retreated for much needed air, his forehead coming to rest against hers. "Kahlan…we can't," he weakly insisted, unconvincingly. "You still have a headache and they're expecting us to…"

Kahlan kissed him again, effectively silencing him as her tongue slid inside his mouth, tangling with his and battling him for control. Her hand went to work on his breeches, anxious to bring him pleasure and forget the painful ache that sat in her chest reminding her of what had been stolen from her.

"Kahlan…" he gasped as he broke the kiss, struggling to regain control as her hand slipped inside the top of his breeches. Her touch set him on fire, his arousal becoming even harder as she tenderly began to stroke him.

He reluctantly pulled her hand from her hold on him, taking it his and bringing it to his lips. He kissed her fingers before moving to the palm of her hand. "I would love nothing more than to let you continue, but if we don't leave soon, they're going to come after us and I definitely don't want to be interrupted once I have you to myself."

Kahlan sighed in disinclined acceptance. She wished more than anything she could stay here alone with him instead of being forced to socialize with a bunch of people she had no memory of. "Fine, but it's your loss."

A mischeivious grin spread across his handsome face as he lost himself in her impossibly blue eyes that he could easily drown himself in. "You can do whatever you want to do to me later tonight after the feast."

"Do you promise?" she asked.

"As long as I get to do whatever I want to do to you as well," he teased with a grin as he refastened his breeches before kissing her again.

A sudden knock at the door interrupted the intimate moment, Cara's voice cutting through the passionate haze that still permeated the Spirit House. "Alright you two," she called through the door. "If you can pull yourselves away from each other for a little while, the feast is about to begin."

"We'll be there in a minute, Cara," Richard called. He swore she had an internal monitor that told her whenever they were alone together.

"You better or I won't hesitate to come in there after you with my agiel," she threatened.

Richard just shook his head in amusement, kissing the tip of Kahlan's nose. "We better go or we'll never get rid of her."

"Fine," she reluctantly agreed as he began to lead her out.

XXX

Sitting next to Tolla, Richard could hardly believe the feast that they had prepared in their honor. He was overwhelmed by the amount of food they had made, the gratitude that they displayed. Every single Aku had come to them, wishing them well and thanking them for saving them from the Keeper.

Though they hadn't known the extent of what had been going on in the world outside of their hidden village, the numerous rifts that had erupted throughout the valley over the last year had told them that something terribly wrong was happening.

Glancing at his grandfather, Richard could barely contain the laughter that filled his throat as he watched him. Zedd couldn't eat fast enough, shoveling food in and filling his plate again before it was even empty as he talked to Tolla.

On the other side of him, Cara was reluctantly engaged in a conversation with Caref. Though she tried her best to hide it, it was obvious that Cara was actually enjoying herself. There was a measure of contentment in her green eyes that had been missing the last few months.

It made him happy to see her relaxing and letting go of the constant need to protect them or worry about them if only for a little while. She was always on guard, ready to defend them with her very life if necessary. Although he appreciated it more than she could possibly know, it made him feel good to see her enjoying life a little.

He turned his attention to the woman sitting next to him, the one who had stolen his heart. He was completely enthralled with how beautiful she looked, how graceful her every movement was. Even though she might not remember who she was, he could still see his Kahlan in everything she did; locked deep inside in a place that he hoped more than anything that he could touch for her.

He watched as her brow suddenly furrowed as she took a bite, her eyes growing distant as if she was being drawn away from him. "What is it, Kahlan?"

"I'm not sure," she murmured. "Those two children seem familiar to me for some reason, but I don't know why."

He followed her gaze, his eyes falling on Tolla and Caref's children who were sitting with their grandmother eating. He smile pulled at his lips as he watched them laugh at something Temin had done. It suddenly made him long to have a child of his own, one that he had made with Kahlan.

"That's Tolla and Caref's children," he told her. "You and I saved them when their hut caught on fire."

Kahlan thoughtfully watched them for a long moment, her lips curling slightly as her blue eyes danced with amusement. They were so adorable. She couldn't help but think of having a child with Richard someday, feeling the little life that they had created together as it grew inside of her.

Her eyes grew moist with unwanted tears again as she lost herself in her wishful thoughts that quickly turned to dread. A sudden hand on hers pulled her back away from them again. She turned to find herself looking into the concerned eyes of her Seeker.

"What's wrong?" he softly asked.

"Just thinking," she just as softly replied, afraid to test her voice.

"Kahlan, we will get married and we will have as many children as you want to have," he told her. "I promise you we will have the life that we want."

She pulled her hand free as she turned her attention back to the children. "How do we know that Demos won't just take it all away? He's tried to destroy everything else that we have including my mind."

"I won't let him," Richard firmly stated, the heat filling his voice capturing her attention again.

"I feel like I'm letting you down," she admitted, looking down at her plate.

"In what way?" he asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.

"I know how badly you want to get married right now and I want that too, but it's because of me that we can't. It's my fault, Richard."

"It is definitely not your fault," he insisted, shifting to face her. "And you are not letting me down in anyway, Kahlan."

"Confessor Kahlan!"

Kahlan and Richard turned to find Caref coming to stand before them, a mischeivious glint in her dark eyes. "What is it?" the Seeker inquired.

"Confessor Kahlan must come dance with us again!" she cried in delight, reaching out to take Kahlan's hand.

"Do what?" Kahlan exclaimed, more than a little confused as Caref pulled her up onto her feet. She quickly looked to Richard for help, desperation filling her eyes.

"I'm afraid she's not feeling well yet," Richard tried to save her, keeping a firm hold on her other hand.

"Nonsense," Caref countered with a determined shake of her head. "You look like you need to have some fun."

"But I…" Kahlan began, her hand slipping free from Richard's as Caref dragged her away.

Richard felt torn between letting her go and saving her from Caref. A sudden hand on his shoulder kept him where he was seated. "Let her go, Seeker Richard," Tolla encouraged him. "You worry far too much. A little dance won't hurt her. It might even help her remember."

"Do you think so?" he asked, hope lacing his voice.

"Maybe," Tolla told him, a knowing smile on his tanned face. "At least that's what we're hoping for."

"You and Caref planned all of this to try to trigger Kahlan's memories, didn't you?"

"You could say that if you want," Tolla said with a nod of his head, his attention now captured by his wife who was beginning to dance before him.

Richard began to relax a little as he too watched as the dance began, his awareness completely focused on the breathtaking Mother Confessor who was swaying her hips in front of him now. She appeared to be completely bewildered at the moment, but was beginning to relax a little the longer Caref helped position her arms and body to perform the graceful movements of the dance.

He studied her every move with utmost fascination, completely captivated by her. He wanted to go to her, to scoop her up in his arms and take her back to the Spirit House where he could touch her as he fantasized about right now, kissing every single inch of her.

He couldn't help but smile as she began to relax a little, allowing her body to feel the beat of the music coming from the tribal drums. A genuine smile slowly lit her face, making her eyes sparkle brightly in the firelight. Laughter that was like a song tuned to his heart escaped her lips as she nearly tripped, bumping into Caref who joined in her amusement.

He was stunned when Caref suddenly leaned forward and grabbed hold of Cara's hand, pulling her into the dance against her will. The Mord'Sith scowled as she was positioned on Caref's left with Kahlan still on the Aku woman's right so she could guide both women through the moves of the dance.

Zedd's laughter caught Richard's attention, forcing him to take his eyes off of Kahlan for a brief moment. His grandfather was very amused by the Mord'Sith's resistance and reluctant acceptance of her fate. "Come on, Cara!" Zedd yelled out. "Show us what you can do!"

Richard inwardly grimaced with his grandfather's taunting words. He had no idea that the dance was going to turn into an erotic dance of seduction soon. The reminder made his groin twitch in anxious anticipation of where the night would soon lead. He'd never seen anything so beautiful or sensual as Kahlan performing that dance for him.

He couldn't tear his eyes away as the dance gradually turned from fun and festive to slow and sensual. His heart began to race as his darkening gaze raked over her perfect form, the perfect curve of her hips. His lips parted slightly to allow deeper breaths as she dipped and turned, bending over and running her hands up the length of her leg before stopping along the hem of her blue dress.

His throat suddenly went dry as her fingers lightly stroked her thighs before moving up her body. It was as if everyone there at the feast had suddenly vanished around them leaving only her and him and the sexual tension that radiated between them electrifying the air.

He felt himself growing painfully harder, the provocative swing of her hips as well as the smile on her lips driving him completely wild. He was so focused on her, he completely missed Cara escaping the dance and returning to her seat with Zedd or the fact that Caref had already seduced her husband into returning to their hut.

Cara leaned over to Zedd who was more interested in filling his plate again than anything else going on around him at that moment. "I swear those two are about to burst into flames," she said with a scowl.

Zedd chuckled softly as he watched Richard stand to his feet, offering his hand to Kahlan. "I think it's lovely," he replied. "I've never seen two people more in love in all my years. I'm more than happy for them."

"I think they need to be thrown in a cold river," Cara huffed, folding her arms over her chest as Odo joined them.

"My friends!" Odo greeted them, setting his plate down in front of him. "I thought I'd entertain you since Tolla and Seeker Richard have left you all alone to see to their women."

"We'd welcome the company, Odo," Zedd happily told him.

"I'm going to check the perimeter before going to bed," Cara announced, getting to her feet and stalking off into the night.

"Does she always have such a happy outlook?" Odo asked, amused.

"Oh, she's fine," Zedd reassured him. "She's just getting restless. She doesn't like being stuck in one place for long when there's trouble still lurking about."

"She has no need to worry," Odo said. "We take good care of our friends."

"Yes, indeed you do," Zedd heartily agreed. "Now, let's talk about what we can do for our dear Kahlan's predicament."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Cara wandered the forest, the only light coming from the bright moonlight overhead. She kept her agiels gripped tightly in her hands, ready for anything that might be seen as a threat to the Seeker and Mother Confessor.

Even though she was loathe admitting it verbally, she was actually more than happy for her friends and the life that they were now able to build together. She always knew that they would find a way to be together and they had. Now, she just needed to ensure that they had the chance for the future they deserved.

Releasing a frustrated sigh, the Mord'Sith paused to lean against the trunk of a tree, her gaze settling on the orange glow of the fires still burning in the Aku village in the distance. While she knew that they deserved this chance to rest and just enjoy being alive, she also knew that they needed to leave as soon as possible, to get to Aydindril where the army could help protect them.

Not to mention there was the little problem with Kahlan's lack of memories. They needed to get to the Wizard's Keep where Zedd might be able to find something that could help her. She had to acknowledge the ache that flitted through her heart every time that Kahlan looked at her with fear in her eyes, backing slightly away or inching closer to Richard.

She had no idea that it would bother her this much. She and Kahlan had grown to be friends over the last several months despite the hostility and mistrust that had overshadowed everything in the beginning.

Cara knew that she hadn't deserved the Mother Confessor's forgiveness or friendship especially after discovering that she had taken Kahlan's sister and nephew's lives. It was something that she didn't take for granted, knowing that Kahlan had had ever right to take her life as payment for her sins.

The sound of a twig snapping quickly tore her from her thoughts, forcing her back to her surroundings and the patrol that she had started. She stayed close to the trunk of the tree, using it to help shadow her as she waited.

Whoever it was, they didn't seem to be trying to mask their presence in the least as another twig snapped, brush rustling softly as it moved through the dense forest. She shifted her position, crouching low as she watched the darkness for who it could be.

The moonlight caught the metal tip of a spear, causing it to glisten in the dark. Cara immediately straightened up, moving away from the tree and allowing her presence to be known. "Identify yourself," she demanded.

She watched as the silhouette suddenly froze, raising the spear in his hand. "Who is there?"

Cara immediately frowned as she recognized the voice. "Temin?"

"Mistress Cara?" Temin asked, his voice tentative and suspicious. "What are you doing out here?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing," Cara replied with a frown as she approached him. "I would've thought one of the girls had taken you to her hut after that dance."

Temin shook his head, his lips curling into a sad smile. "Namie tried, but I turned her down," he admitted, averting his eyes in embarrassment.

"Why?" Cara asked, her gaze narrowing. "Is she unattractive?"

"What? No," Temin immediately told her. "No, Namie is very beautiful."

"Then what is the problem?"

Temin drew a deep breath, adjusting his grip on the handle of his spear as he tried to find the words to describe what he was struggling with. "I…I don't know," he softly said, swallowing hard. "I love her, but I do not know if I am the best man for her to bond with."

Cara reattached her agiels to her waist before folding her arms against her chest. "Why wouldn't you be the best man for her? Have you done something horrible that would disqualify you?"

Temin began to fidget, his body growing tense with overwhelming guilt as he averted his eyes. "I killed my best friend," he softly confessed. "I killed Hadi."

"You did what you had to do," Cara reassured him. "You saved Tolla's life. You are a hero, Temin."

"I know what I did was right, but I still feel so much guilt…like it's trying to eat me alive inside. I don't know what to do about it."

"Would it help if I told you that I knew what you were going through?" she asked.

Temin looked up sharply at her, stunned by her confession. "What are you talking about?" he questioned her. "You are Mord'Sith. How could it upset you to take a life?"

Cara couldn't help the smile that tugged at the corners of her lips, amused by the Aku warrior's misconception about Mord'Sith. "Yes, I am Mord'Sith, but I think for myself now. I still have feelings and a heart. Richard saved my life…and Kahlan and Zedd. I am no longer just a mindless slave to the Lord Rahl, but things I did before then were terrible."

"How so?"

Cara lowered her eyes, ashamed of what she was about to confess to him. "I murdered Kahlan's sister and nephew."

Temin's eyes grew wide in stunned disbelief as he stared at her. "How are you and Confessor Kahlan still friends?"

"It was back when I was serving Lord Darken Rahl," she attempted to explain. "I didn't know there was anything more than following orders and obeying the whims of a madman. I was ordered to kill Kahlan's sister and nephew, to wipe out the rest of the Confessors."

"And Confessor Kahlan forgave you for this?"

"She not only forgave me, but she saved my life," Cara admitted, her throat constricting uncomfortably. "I was sentenced to die by confession, but Kahlan overturned the ruling against me. She saved me from death for my actions."

"That is amazing," Temin muttered in astonishment. "Does Confessor Kahlan remember this now?"

"No…I don't think so," Cara stated, steeling herself against the wave of guilt and apprehension rising inside of her. "I'm hoping that she'll still be able to find it in herself to forgive me again when she finds out."

"I'm sure she will, Mistress Cara," Temin tried to reassure her. "If Confessor Kahlan is full of that much compassion and forgiveness, that won't change regardless of her memories."

"I hope so," Cara murmured, dread swimming in her stomach. "I would hate to cause her more pain."

"You are a good friend to her," Temin commented.

"I don't know about that," Cara huffed, shaking her head. "The point is I still feel guilty at times for what I did to those Confessors, to Kahlan's sister and nephew. You need to find a way to come to terms with your guilt and move on.

"What Hadi did was wrong. He was on a dangerous path of self-destruction. He allowed his anger to control his life and it only lead to death. There was nothing you could have done to change him."

Temin thought about it for a long moment, contemplating her words. "You are right, Mistress Cara," he finally agreed. "I just…I miss him."

"I know how you feel," she admitted. "There are some of my Sisters that I have lost over the years that I still miss even now."

"Do you hunt?" Temin suddenly asked, abruptly changing the subject.

"Yes," Cara replied. "Richard taught me how to hunt with a bow and arrow."

"Would you like to go hunting with me tomorrow?" Temin offered. "I know of this field where the deer are more than plentiful. We can make it into a contest."

A small smile formed on Cara's face as she considered his offer. It was far better than skulking around here waiting for Richard to decide when he wanted to leave for Aydindril. Besides, she didn't know how much longer she could take watching the way Richard and Kahlan ogled each other with that lovesick look in their eyes.

"You're on," she said with a rare smile.

"Good," Temin nodded. "I can also teach you how to hunt with a spear."

"And I'll show you how a Mord'Sith hunts," she countered.

Temin nodded his head, excitement growing. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Good night, Temin," she said.

"Good night, Mistress Cara," Temin responded. "Thank you for talking to me."

Cara watched as the Aku warrior disappeared into the darkness, suddenly looking forward to tomorrow. She had never thought that she would actually be one to give advice or provide comfort to someone. She shook her head with a scowl, deciding that Richard was definitely rubbing off on her too much.

XXX

They barely made it back to the Spirit House, pausing several times to kiss and to touch, neither able to keep their hands off of each other. Entering, Richard immediately pulled Kahlan into his arms, kissing her senseless and still hungry for much more.

They fell to their knees on their bedrolls, each barely aware of anything else except for each other. Kahlan trembled slightly as he began to kiss along her collarbone, aching to feel him filling her so full with every bit of himself.

She was desperate for him to give all of himself to her and her to him, to feel his body repeatedly rubbing against hers and setting her on fire. She tilted her head as his mouth found her throat, kissing and nipping at the sensitive skin there. Her fingers threaded into his hair, massaging his scalp as she began to lose herself to his heated assault on her.

Her throat was suddenly dry as he began to kiss behind her ear, sending tiny shockwaves of pleasure trembling through her body. "Richard," she softly gasped, her hand tugging his shirt free from his breeches. She was dying to touch him, to feel his skin sliding against hers.

Richard moaned as her hand slipped up under his shirt to touch him, her fingernails creating a slow sensual scrape across his hard flesh. He broke the kiss long enough to pull his shirt up over his head, quickly tossing it aside before his lips crashed into hers again.

He swiftly laid her back down on the bedroll, covering her body with his own as he positioned himself between her drawn up legs spread wide and more than ready to accept him inside of her. The kisses grew more frantic as he pressed his chest into hers, more passionate as he ground his hips against hers as he showed her how badly he wanted her.

He propped himself up above her on his forearms as he kissed his way down her throat to her chest. With one hand, he untied her blue dress, laying her bare before him and leaving him free to take as he pleased. Kahlan arched her back as he kissed and suckled each of her breasts equally, begging him to take more as his one hand slipped down her body to caress her where she wanted him the most.

She bit her bottom lip to stifle the cry of pleasure that lodged in her throat with his attention, her head rolling back as her pulse raced. Fire shot through her veins and erupted from deep within her core, her body humming with the rapidly building pleasure that was desperately searching for release.

The coarse graze of his short whiskers against her fair skin shot shivers up her spine as he kissed the valley between her breasts, rubbing his chin against her and savoring the taste of her as his tongue snuck out to drag across her flesh.

He quickly reached down to unfasten his breeches, Kahlan reaching down to help push them past his hips. He sat up, removing them as well as his boots before positioning himself above her once more. His hardened member was throbbing painfully now, pleading for attention as he rubbed the tip against her wet center.

Kahlan trembled as he began to kiss his way back up her body, the feel of his tooth pendant slowly dragging along her fevered skin driving her wild as he kissed every place he could possibly reach with his mouth and tongue. He kissed her hard as he loomed over her, larger than life and filled with such strength and passion and love…and it was all hers.

She gasped at the feel of his hard heat teasing her entrance. Her hips rose in a silent plea for him to finally give her what she had been aching for. "Richard…please…" she breathlessly begged, lifting her head up off of the bedroll to look down her body to watch what he was doing to her. "I want you…inside of me…now."

Richard grinned down at her as he repeatedly brushed himself against her center, loving the way it caused her body to jerk and tremble in response, her eyelids to flutter in sweet anticipation as her head fell back against the bedroll. She was breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling rapidly causing her breasts to rub up against his muscular chest and setting his body aflame.

Delaying what she wanted most was only torturing himself as well. Unable to bear it a moment longer, he suddenly shifted his hips, thrusting hard and fully sheathing himself deep inside of her. Kahlan cried out with a sharp gasp as she arched her neck, nearly coming undone right then with the sudden fierce intrusion that she had been longing for.

She gripped his shoulders tightly, her fingernails digging into his flesh as her body bowed with the unbelievable pleasure that spiked through her. Richard's entire body went rigid with a need to come as her inner walls clamped down hard on him, but he fought it back. He wanted to make this last for as long as he possibly could, wanting to show her just how deeply his love for her ran in hopes she might remember something…anything more about them, about him.

"Kahlan…" he gasped as he pulled his hips back, pressing his forehead against her shoulder, his heart hammering against his breastbone as he fought to remain in control.

Sweat began to trickle down his back as he started to repetitively thrust in and out of her, his tooth pendant swinging back and forth with his forceful movements as he gazed down at her. His hand found her breast, stroking and massaging her soft flesh. His other hand slipped down to her thigh, caressing her smooth skin before gripping her firmly and hooking her leg over his shoulder.

She arched her neck as her mouth fell open with a breathless gasp, crying out in pleasure as he immersed himself even deeper into her wet heat. She swore he couldn't plunge any deeper inside of her, feeling as though he was tearing her apart at the seams and yet it was the most amazing feeling in the world being with him like this – so passionate and alive and primal in their lust and love.

Tears trickled free from the corners of her eyes against her will as she began to writhe beneath him with the mind-blowing pleasure that shot through her with every single slam of his hips against hers. She loved it when they made love like this – hot and passionate and so very fierce that she thought she'd lose her mind.

Richard pressed his face into the crook of her neck, kissing and nipping as he pounded even harder into her, their bodies rocking frantically with the fierce love they were making. She clawed at his back as she suddenly came, fingernails digging deep, panting breaths trying to suck in as much air as possible.

After a few more punishing thrusts, his body abruptly seized as he came painfully hard, releasing hot spurts of his seed deep within her core. Boneless, he collapsed on top of her, unable to move with the complete rapture that thrummed wildly through his system.

Finally recovering a little, Richard lifted his head enough to begin kissing her softly and finding her face wet with salty tears. He immediately pulled back, his eyes opening in fear. "Kahlan…are you alright? Did I hurt you?"

"No, it was…amazing," she reassured him, suddenly embarrassed by her tears.

Richard's hand fell to the delicate curve of her face, concern suddenly mingling with the euphoria still coursing through him. "What is it? Did I do something wrong?"

"No…no, I just…I want to remember so badly, remember everything about you," she replied, her hands reaching up to cradle his face. "It's my fault we aren't getting married now like I know you want to. I've ruined everything, all your plans for our future."

"No, Kahlan…no," he firmly said, leaning down and kissing her again in an effort to allay her fears. "None of this is your fault. It's all because of my brother Demos and I'm going to make him pay for it. He will not get away with this."

"I…I'm so scared, Richard," she softly admitted, averting her eyes as Richard rolled off of her, pulling her up to sit with him. She quickly pulled her legs up, her chin resting on her knees. "I'm scared I'm going to lose you, afraid that I'll never be able to remember my past…never get my life back or have the future that I want with you."

"Kahlan, listen to me," he heatedly said, taking her face in his hands and forcing her to look at him. "I am not going to leave you. I love you more than my own life and I refuse to give up on you. We will be married someday with or without your memories. Demos will not win. I won't let him beat us."

Kahlan slowly shook her head, the tears subsiding as she closed her eyes. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "I guess being scared isn't very Mother Confessor of me, is it?"

"Being scared has nothing to do with being the Mother Confessor," he told her. "I'm the Seeker and I get scared too. To be honest…I'm scared right now."

"What are you scared of?"

"I'm terrified of losing you, failing you," he confessed, repeatedly stroking her hair. "Nothing means more to me than you, Kahlan."

"I love you, Richard," she whispered, kissing him softly.

"I love you too," he murmured, nuzzling his nose with hers.

Kahlan climbed into his lap, straddling his legs as she settled over him. She ran her hands over his face as if memorizing every single detail all over again, afraid that she might forget. She followed the tender caress of her fingers with her soft lips, the passion of just moments again beginning to flame all over again.

Richard's eyes fell closed as she began to kiss along his jaw to his ear, sucking and teasing the lobe. A throaty moan filled her ears as his fingers curled around her upper arms, keeping her on his lap right where he wanted her.

He instinctively tilted his head as she slowly tortured his throat, moving her hips over his and creating a sweet friction that was gradually driving him insane. She nuzzled his neck, kissing him softly between gentle erotic bites.

"Richard?" she throatily murmured.

"Hmmm?" he half hummed, half gasped as she continued her teasing assault to on him.

His hands immediately dropped from her arms to her hips, firmly grabbing hold of her as he tried to stop her movements against his groin in order to respond to her with somewhat coherent sentences. She clamped her legs tightly around his hips, locking him in her grasp.

"Where did you get this scar from?" she innocently asked before running her lips over a thin discolored line on his left shoulder.

It was still more than difficult trying to connect his thoughts though he had momentarily halted the grind of her hips on his member. He still had a very naked and highly aroused Kahlan straddling his lap, her breasts pressed up against his bare chest and her warm tongue and lips caressing his moist skin. He could barely remember his own name at that point as lust pounded like a mighty torrent through his veins.

"I…um, I think it was…during a battle with some D'Haran soldiers…last year," he finally managed to respond, releasing a ragged breath in victory for the accomplishment.

Kahlan began to kiss along his collarbone before beginning a delicious descent over his chest and finding another scar. "And what about this one?"

The sweet inquisitiveness of her voice combined with her sensual touch was making it hard to breathe let alone speak. "I got…Ahhh…" he panted heavily as her teeth raked over his nipple before sucking hard on it.

His hands flew to her hair, tangling in her long silken hair and holding her against his chest as his fingers dug into her scalp. He didn't know how much longer he was going to last as she gently pushed him back to lay on the bedroll. She quickly settled over him as she continued her meticulous exploration of his body, intent on learning as much about the man who held her heart as possible.

"What was that?" Kahlan melodiously asked, her lips curling with his response to her touch.

"I got that from a bolt fired by a D'Haran soldier," he breathlessly revealed, his chest heaving with the feel of her hair lightly skirting along his skin as her mouth continued its methodical examination of him.

Her fingers expertly stroked each and every slope and slant of his sculpted muscles, her mouth following and paying homage as she showed him what she truly felt in her heart for him. "And this one here…along your ribs?"

Richard pressed the back of his head in the bedroll as she caressed the scar with her tongue and lips as if apologizing for the pain that he'd received from it. He continued to caress her scalp, losing himself in the erotic pleasure she was creating within him.

"I…I don't…remember…" he tried to placate her, wanting to be buried deep inside of her instead of answering questions about old wounds.

Kahlan suddenly paused, hovering over him and staring at him intently until his eyes finally opened to find out why she had stopped. "Richard, I'm the one with the memory loss…not you."

Richard smirked up at her, finding her incredulous expression so adorable, a raven curl falling forward into her face as she leaned over him. "I got it from when I was captured and tortured by Denna," he admitted, knowing that his answer would raise a whole crop of questions that he didn't feel like answering at that moment. He only wanted to be with her right now.

Her brow crinkled with panic, her blue eyes swimming with concern. "You…you were tortured?" she softly asked, her voice nearly cracking with emotion. "Where was I? Why didn't I get to you before you were hurt like that?"

Richard moved his hand to brush the offending lock away, holding the raven curtain of hair back from her face. "Kahlan, you did save me," he reassured her, his eyes softening and losing a measure of the lust that had just pervaded the dark brown orbs.

Kahlan leaned down and kissed him slowly…deeply, ravishing him again before finally retreating. "I'm so sorry I couldn't save you sooner," she softly said.

"You never have to apologize for anything, Kahlan," he heatedly told her. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here now. You have saved my life more times than I can possibly count."

"I wish I could remember," she admitted.

"I'll help you remember," he promised her with a playful smile.

Kahlan couldn't help but smile his special smile in response. "I guess I'll just have to continue my exploration then, memorize your body all over again. Maybe I'll remember something."

"You do whatever it is you feel you need to do in order to help you remember," he encouraged her, his gaze darkening once more growing lust.

"Now, I finally get what I want," she purred.

She smirked as she lowered her head to his chest, never breaking eye contact with him as she began to blaze a circuitous path over his chiseled flesh. She leisurely kissed her way down along his abdomen, a definite destination in mind. Nothing was going to stop her from getting what she wanted this time.

Richard's hands instantly reached for her hair as she began to tease and stroke him with her mouth, his back arching as pleasure shot like lightning clear through to his core. He bit down on his bottom lip, her mouth so hot and wet and erotic against his skin.

He began to pant heavily, her name a breathless chant on his lips as he bucked his hips in response. He swore on his life that he would finally make her his wife one day and they would be together forever. No one would ever get in the way of that. Not Demos. Not Darken Rahl. Not the Keeper.

No one.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Kahlan chewed on her bottom lip as she followed Richard into the stillness of the woods that surrounded the Aku village. Despite the warmth of the afternoon sun, she couldn't help the icy trickle of nervousness that pumped through her veins as she dodged a protruding tree root sticking up out of the ground threatening to trip her up.

She kept her head down, hooking her hair behind her ears, her focus on the forest floor as she allowed her thoughts to wander freely. Apprehension filled her throat making it difficult to breathe as she thought back to what little she could remember from her last experience when Zedd tried to resurrect her memories.

All she could remember was the blinding pain and the wild whirlwind of disjointed images that had flashed through her mind's eye before getting violently ill. The next thing she knew Richard was with her in the Spirit House waking her up, confusion clouding her thoughts.

The Spirit House.

She felt her cheeks suddenly grow warm, her insides flushing hotly with sweet remembrance of last night spent with him after the feast. They had made love several times last night, exploring one another again and again until finally succumbing to absolute exhaustion, falling asleep curled up in each other's arms. They had become a tangle of limbs and bodies melded together; not knowing where he ended and she began.

She was definitely sore today because of their vigorous activities, but in a very good way. It had been incredible being with him like that in every way imaginable. She wanted that passion with him always, every day and every night. To wake up next to him, to open her eyes and find him right there with her. To make love with him every night, falling asleep tucked securely in his strong embrace as they basked in the euphoria of the love they had shared.

At this rate, however, that was never going to happen...not with Demos still around.

Kahlan was suddenly jostled from her thoughts when she plowed straight into her Seeker's back when he came to an abrupt stop, nearly knocking them both to the ground. Richard immediately spun around, grabbing hold of her to steady her, amusement in his chocolate brown eyes.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Sorry," she sheepishly muttered. "I guess I wasn't paying attention."

"I guess we did wear each other out last night," he said with a smirk playing on his lips.

"I guess we did," she shyly agreed, averting her eyes under his scrutinizing gaze.

"Kahlan, you don't have to try this again if you don't want to," he pointed out. "No one would think less of you for not wanting to go through with it."

Kahlan's lips formed into a thin determined line as she momentarily considered returning back to the village, but she knew in her heart that she had to do this no matter what. "No," she firmly stated, raising her chin in determination. "I want to do this…need to…for you."

Richard frowned with her words, his brow furrowing as he took hold of her upper arms. "Kahlan, I don't want you to do this for me," he adamantly told her, his voice rising. "You do this for you and no one else."

Confusion flooded her sapphire eyes as she stared at him. "Don't you want me to get my memories back so we can get married?"

"Yes, of course you know I want you to, but I don't want you to do it just because of me."

"I'm doing this for us, Richard," she replied. "I want to be the Kahlan that you fell in love with."

"You already are the woman I fell in love with regardless what you can or cannot remember," he told her, his hand lightly settling over her heart. "This…this hasn't changed despite everything that Demos has tried to do to take you away from me. You're still my Kahlan no matter what."

Kahlan covered his hand resting over her heart with her own. "I may not remember much, but I know in here that I love you more than anything."

Richard's smile spread across his face as he quickly leaned in to capture her lips in a sweet kiss. His arms slowly snaked around her waist as his breathing became more labored, pulling her firmly against him. He deepened the kiss as memories of passionate love shared last night assaulted his mind and flooded his body with warm pulsating arousal.

"Haven't you two already desecrated the Spirit House? Now you have to take it out here too?" Cara huffed in annoyance as she stalked past them with a bow and arrow in hand, Temin following closely behind her with a couple of spears in hand. "Thought you two would've gotten it out of your systems by now."

Temin only smiled widely as they passed the kissing couple, ducking his head in embarrassment and averting his eyes. "I think they look very happy," he softly commented to Cara, glancing back over his shoulder at the couple so obviously in love.

"A little too happy," Cara grumbled with a roll of her emerald eyes.

His lips still locked with hers, Richard chuckled into Kahlan's mouth with Cara's response, his laughter forcing them to break the kiss. "Come on," he finally relented, grabbing Kahlan by the hand and leading her towards the clearing. "Let's go get this over with. The sooner this is done, the sooner I can marry you and finally make you mine."

Kahlan abruptly pulled him to a stop, a dangerous yet flirtatious glint reflecting in her sapphire eyes. "So I'm not yours now?" she asked with a curious tilt of her head as if daring him. "If I'm not yours now then last night must have meant nothing to you."

"What?" Richard exclaimed in shock and confusion. "No, Kahlan! You know that's not true."

She pulled her hand free, turning her back to him with a smirk on her face. "Well, I guess since I'm not really yours, I'll just go find someone else who wants me. There was this one Aku warrior that I saw at the feast last night that was kind of handsome. I wonder if he's still free."

Richard watched in stunned disbelief as Kahlan began to walk away from him back towards the village, his jealousy igniting like a dangerous inferno. He marched straight for her, roughly grabbing her by the arm and spinning her around. Before Kahlan could comprehend what had just happened, he had her back pinned up against a tree, his lips hovering temptingly close to hers.

"You are such an evil flirt," he huskily growled, allowing his proximity to affect her like they both knew it did.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she coyly murmured, amusement shining in her eyes.

Richard's gaze darkened, causing the fine hair on the back of her neck to prickle. "You belong only to me and you know it, Mother Confessor."

Tilting his head, Richard's mouth crashed into hers, Kahlan moaning as he fully pressed himself against her, keeping her where he wanted her – trapped between his hard body and the rough tree trunk. It was exciting and thrilling to her core, loving his possessiveness and jealousy. It was rapidly heating her blood.

"Okay, you two," Zedd suddenly interrupted with a grin as he passed by them. "I'll pour a bucket of cold water on you if I have to. We've got work to do now so come along."

Richard pulled back enough to gaze into her eyes. "We are going to finish this later."

The firm resolve in his voice sent a shiver up her spine as he reluctantly pulled away. She released a long slow breath as she fought to rein in the desire thrumming through her. Damn that man. He knew exactly what he did to her and he seemed to always use it to his advantage.

She had to admit, though. She had a similar affect on him as well. She had felt it firmly pressing low against her belly. "If I feel like it," she offhandedly commented with a shrug of her shoulder as if she didn't care if he made love to her again or not.

Richard looked back over his shoulder at her, shooting her a playful glare. Her flirtatiousness was driving him wild, reminding him more and more of his Kahlan that he thought he had lost. "We'll just see who lasts the longest," he shot back.

Kahlan just flashed him a smile as she continued to follow, doing her best to keep her mind clear and focused instead of thinking about Richard like she had the last time. Zedd needed her mind open and free from distractions and she was going to do her best to give that to him.

She wanted this done and over with as soon as possible so they could get on with their lives, move past what Demos had done to her and Richard. She swore that if that man every came near her again, she would end his life without a second thought. He couldn't be given a second chance at destroying Richard. She didn't care about herself; only that her Seeker was safe.

"Alright, Kahlan," Zedd said, turning to face her. "Have a seat right here on this log just like last time."

"Where's Odo?" Richard asked with a frown. "I thought he was supposed to help with this so Kahlan didn't get sick this time."

"One of the Aku women just went into labor," Zedd informed them. "He is with her right now, but he gave me the medicine that he wants Kahlan to take."

Richard drew a deep breath, raking his fingers back through his hair. He wasn't sure he liked this, but he wasn't about to dissuade Kahlan from trying again if this was what she wanted to do. As much as he wanted her to be able to remember everything again, he didn't know if he could handle watching her go through it all over again knowing how violently sick she had gotten the last time. It had taken everything out of her, causing her so much pain and needing to sleep for hours after.

It pierced his heart as sure as a knife's blade to see her suffering and yet he couldn't stand to see her feeling so lost and scared, not knowing where she came from or who he truly was, not completely understanding everything that was happening around her.

Although she did her best to conceal it from him, he could see the confusion and fear there hiding in the blue depths that looked back at him. He wanted to fix it for her, to make it all better, but even this seemed to be beyond anything that he or anyone else could repair for her.

Hopelessness began to seep into his chest as he watched Kahlan and Zedd settle on fallen trees across from each other. She took the seeds that Zedd gave her, eating them as she glanced at Richard, giving him the special smile that always made his heart soar like an eagle.

Here she was…his beautiful Kahlan…about to undergo another experience that may or may not work with medicine that they both knew probably wouldn't help and she was attempting to reassure him. It caused his throat to suddenly tighten, unable to tear his eyes away from her.

Richard gave her a smile in response, silently telling her that he would always be right here with her and that it would be alright even though they both knew it wasn't going to be. He had no illusions about how this was going to go.

Deep down, he knew that the medicine Odo had given her wasn't going to do much especially against the powerful occult magic that Demos had instilled inside of her mind. He had a feeling that Kahlan understood that as well, but she was still determined to proceed with this nonetheless.

She never ceased to charm and captivate him in so many ways, her strength and formidable will, her fiery spirit and the immense love that resided in her heart. She was everything good and pure in this world and he would give his life in a heartbeat for her.

"Alright, Kahlan," Zedd finally said after several long moments. "I think the medicine has had enough time to begin to work through your system. Are you ready to begin?"

Kahlan drew a deep breath, nodding her head in response. "Let's do this."

"You tell me if the pain becomes too much," Zedd firmly instructed her. "I don't want you to have to suffer through this. If it doesn't work, we'll just have to look further when we get to Aydindril for a way to recover your memories."

"I'll be alright, Zedd," she reassured him, steeling herself for the horrifying pain that was about to come despite Odo's attempts to deter it.

She did her best to keep her heart from racing, to keep her breathing even and her mind clear from all outside distractions. She wanted so badly for this to work, to regain what had been so maliciously stolen from her by Demos Rahl.

Zedd gave her a sad smile, knowing too that this was going to end in disaster but knowing he needed to try for her sake. His bony hand found her knee, patting it gently and squeezing it in reassurance. "I'll do my best to get them back for you, my dear."

"Thank you, Zedd," she murmured, glancing up at Richard who was standing behind him with his arms crossed and an expression of pure worry on his handsome face.

Kahlan closed her eyes, her lips parting slightly to release a long slow breath. She allowed the sounds and smells of the forest that surrounded her to help calm her and clear her mind. Her hands settled on her knees, grasping them lightly as Zedd pressed his fingertips to her temples.

She felt the familiar trickle of magic as it began to seep into her brain, bringing with it a sense of calming warmth as he attempted to soothe her in addition to finding the right magical key that would unlock her memories for her.

Zedd closed his eyes as he began to work, doing whatever he could to help this woman who had become like a granddaughter to him, who meant so very much to his grandson…to all of them. He tried to push away the knowledge that he was about to cause her pain in the midst of his efforts to help her, but it was difficult knowing how much she was about to suffer even with Odo's help.

Richard watched her like a gar watching its prey, not taking his eyes off of her for moment. He would not hesitate to interrupt, putting a stop to this if it was causing her too much pain. He was not about to let her suffer in order to regain her memories. He would find another way to recover them for her.

Kahlan felt Zedd's magic gradually grow warmer, cutting like a hot knife through her mind as it dissected it, separating current memories and events as it searched for that which had been locked away and buried deep in her subconsciousness where no one could touch it.

She did her best to keep her face expressionless knowing that Richard was watching her. She could practically feel his intense gaze on her, those deep chocolate orbs studying every minute detail. It caused a feeling of warmth to wash over her, knowing how deeply he truly loved her. That was why she couldn't let him see how Zedd's magic was beginning to affect her, knowing it would only upset him. She needed to keep the pain and fear from reaching her face no matter what.

Images began to flip through her mind at a nauseating speed, disjointed pictures of fractured events that left her feeling confused and frightened. Unfamiliar faces covered in a thin haze of smoke swirled past her mind's eye causing her stomach to churn and twist.

Who were these people? Were they her family? Friends? Where were her parents? Where was Richard in her memories?

She so desperately wanted to remember him, remember how they met and fell in love, who she was as well as her family. Where was her mother? Father? Brothers and sisters?

Kahlan internally winced as the pain began to intensify, the pressure inside of her head building as she struggled to remain perfectly still and her face impassive. She swallowed hard as bile began to burn in the back of her throat, her fingers tightening their hold on her knees.

Tears began to build behind her eyes as the pain spread, swelling to near unbearable levels and yet she fought it back, refusing to give in to its powerful pull. She had to do this if she wanted to marry Richard. He deserved to have a wife who was whole, who remembered the first time their eyes met, their first kiss, the first time they made love.

A soft gasp escaped her lips, flinching from the pain that seared through her head. Richard took a step closer, ready to stop it when Kahlan suddenly spoke. "No…don't, Richard," she murmured, keeping her eyes closed as Zedd continued to work.

"Zedd," Richard ground out, his jaw clenched tight with overwhelming helplessness.

Zedd whispered words of magic as he worked to find the memories, doing his best to ignore the fierce tension radiating from his grandson standing right behind him. He was getting closer, his magic brushing against the surface of her memories that refused to release.

He grimaced with the amount of pain that was storming through the Confessor's mind, doing his best to keep his focus. If he could just reach a little deeper, find the right combination of magic that would finally unlock the spell that kept them trapped deep inside…

Kahlan suddenly cried out in pain, hot tears streaming down her face as she grabbed her head unable to take much more. Nausea roiled through her, threatening to wrench her lunch free from her stomach as she leaned forward, tightly holding her head.

"Stop!" Richard angrily yelled, moving past his grandfather to kneel before his Confessor. "Kahlan…"

Richard's gentle voice laced with panic assaulted her ears as she rocked back and forth, holding her head and sobbing uncontrollably. She felt his touch on her, trying to pull her hands away from her head, but she wouldn't let him. It hurt too bad to let go as she clamped down even harder on her the sides of her head.

Feeling helpless, he wrapped his arms around her, trying to hold her close to him as they waited for the pain to subside. He looked back over his shoulder to see Zedd sag in exhaustion, his face pale and his eyes closed.

"Zedd, are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes, my boy," Zedd softly said, finally opening his eyes to look at him.

"It didn't work did it?" Richard asked.

Zedd silently shook his head in response, feeling as though he had failed them both. "I'm so sorry, Richard," he replied. "I'm afraid we're going to have to take her back to Aydindril if we want to help her regain her memories."

Richard nodded his head, turning his attention back to his Confessor who was crying softly. "It's alright, Kahlan," he tenderly reassured her. "It's over. You don't have to do that again."

She leaned into him, unconsciousness taking her away from him again. He gently picked her up in his arms, pressing his lips to her forehead as he cradled her in his arms. "I'm taking her back to the Spirit House."

Zedd stood to his feet as well, feeling defeated. "I'm sorry, my boy," he said once more. "I just can't risk doing it again without consulting the books at the Wizard's Keep in Aydindril. I'm afraid of what might happen to her if I try again."

"Like what?" Richard demanded to know as he cradled his Confessor in his arms.

"It could end up destroying her mind completely or she could become locked inside of her mind and never come back to us," he grimly told him.

"The risks are becoming too great," Richard stated, gazing down at the woman in his arms. "I won't risk losing her just to try to get back something that she might never get back. It's not worth it."

"Don't you think she needs to be one the decide that, Richard?"

The Seeker tried to calm the panic still pounding through him, the fear that gripped his heart. "I can't lose her, Zedd. I've just gotten her back from Demos. I'm not about to take the chance of losing her again especially because of him."

"Good luck trying to convince Kahlan to give up," Zedd replied with a grim shake of his head. "She's determined to get them back because of you."

"Me?" he frowned. "I told her that I didn't want her doing this for me."

"First of all, when has Kahlan ever listened?" Zedd questioned him with a smile. "Secondly, when has Kahlan ever truly done something that was rooted in selfish motives? She's not doing this for herself, Richard. She's doing this for you because she feels you deserve a wife who can remember everything about your life together."

Richard fought back the rush of emotions that flooded his heart for the woman in his arms, trying to find his voice to speak again. "You picked up on all that?"

Zedd nodded his head as his gaze fell to the unconscious Confessor. "That and more," he revealed. "You never need doubt the depths of her love for you, Richard. I saw it…felt it. It nearly overwhelmed me."

Gazing down at Kahlan curled against his chest, he knew Zedd's words to be true. He felt her love every time she looked at him, every time they touched or made love. It inundated him, drowning him in its profound depths and the absolute exquisiteness of what they shared. It was a rare and precious thing that he would fight to protect at all cost.

"I know," the Seeker softly admitted. "I feel the same way."

"I know you do," Zedd confirmed. "We can't give up hope just yet. I won't stop until I can find a way to restore what Demos stole from her, but I think we should wait again until I've had a chance to consult the books at the Wizard's Keep."

"Fine," Richard relented. "We'll leave in a couple days for Aydindril, but until then no more attempts no matter what Kahlan says. I can't watch her go through this again."

"Let's get her back to the Spirit House so that she can rest," the wizard suggested. "You look like you could use some rest yourself, my boy. Long night?"

Richard turned his head away, embarrassed by his grandfather's question. He could tell by the look in the wizard's eye that he knew the answer without even having to ask. "You could say that," he cryptically replied.

Zedd chuckled softly as he followed the Seeker back to the Aku village. "Go rest for a while with Kahlan," he told him. "I'm going to go see if Odo could use some help with the delivery."

"Thank you for trying to help Kahlan, Zedd," Richard said. "I know that you're doing all you can do right now."

"I know it's difficult for her, Richard, but it's not the end of the world if we don't recover them for her," he pointed out. "She's alive and safe here with us where she belongs. That's what is most important."

"I agree, but trying to make her see that is a whole other problem."

"Don't worry," the wizard reassured him. "We'll get through this one way or another. We always manage to somehow."

Richard agreed as he carried Kahlan into the Spirit house, knowing his grandfather was right. What worried him most was the next situation they weren't going to be able to get through.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Sister Tash sat silently by the fire, standing guard while the rest of her Sisters of the Dark slept. She allowed her mind to drift as the shadows of the night moved and shifted about her, the only sound that of the frequent pop and crackle of the fire before her.

She brushed her long blond hair back over her shoulder, her gaze slowly roaming over each of her sleeping sisters. Her eyes settled on the sleeping form of Sister Nicci laying on the far edge of their camp away from the rest of the group.

Nicci had always been more of a loner even long before her break away from the Sisters of the Dark and the Keeper. Even though she'd been brought back into the service of the Keeper, there was still something different about her, setting her far apart from the rest.

Thinking long and hard about it, Tash finally decided that it was because she was far more powerful than all of them combined. It had been a miracle that they'd been able to pursue and capture her, performing the ritual turning her back to the Keeper. It had taken all of them using every bit of power that they had possessed to restrain her long enough to gain the upper hand.

She just hoped the spell would hold. Nicci was very powerful and intelligent, her will indomitable. Even though they had managed to break her spirit through the spell this time, she had a bad feeling it would only be a temporary hold.

She internally shuddered at the thought of Sister Nicci suddenly breaking free of the powerful spell they had placed on her. There would be no place they could hide from her vengeful wrath. It would be better if they were dead if that happened.

Tash wrapped her blanket a little tighter around her as a cool wind suddenly blew through their camp. She forced her gaze back to the dancing orange flames before her that attempted to mesmerize her into a sleepy state. She rubbed her eyes, trying to remove the weariness in them to no avail as she attempted to stifle a yawn.

She watched in awe as the colors of the fire suddenly swirled to an eerie shade of green and black. She was stunned to see the form of her master's servant taking shape before her very eyes. She immediately straightened, her blanket slipping from her shoulders as she fell to her knees before the image of Darken Rahl.

"My lord," she softly murmured, bowing her face low to the ground, trembling with fear. "What have I done to be honored by your appearance?"

Darken smiled at her humility and reverence. Novices of the Sisters of the Dark were always so quick to please without question. "I have a special job just for you, Sister Tash."

Tash instantly lifted her head, her eyes wide with stunned disbelief. "Me, my lord?" she gasped, quickly looking around to see if any of her other sisters were awake only to find them all still asleep, unaware of their visitor. "Why would you choose me? I'm only a novice. I'm unworthy of your notice."

Darken's lips twitched, morphing into a dark smirk at the young woman before him. "Oh, but my dear, we do take notice of all of the Keeper's faithful servants…even the novices."

"I am honored, Lord Rahl," Tash murmured, still dazed by his presence. "What can I do for you, my lord?"

"I actually have a very special mission that only you can handle for me," he informed her, clasping his hands behind his back as he spoke. "Are you prepared to do whatever it is I ask of you?"

Tash looked up at him through her eyelashes, her insides trembling with both fear as well as nervous excitement. "I will do anything you ask."

"Good…very good," Darken muttered as he stroked his goatee. "I want you to keep a special eye on Sister Nicci for me."

Confusion flooded the young Sister's eyes as she gazed up at the fiery green image of Darken Rahl. "Do you not trust her, my lord?"

"To tell you the truth…no," he bluntly confessed. "She turned against us once. I won't put it past her to break from this spell somehow and turn on us again."

"Do you really believe she could do that?"

"Nicci is a very dangerous sorceress, Tash," Darken warned her. "She can't be fully trusted until she has proven herself with this mission we have entrusted her as well as you and your sisters with."

Tash's face fell along with her heart now that her own fears about the Sister of the Dark had been confirmed. She had hoped for all of their sakes that her concerns about Nicci had been foolish, but that obviously wasn't the case.

"What would you have me do, my lord?" she asked with a frown. "I am but a simple novice and Sister Nicci is the most powerful sister that walks the territories. There is no way that I could possibly stop her."

"It's alright, Tash," Darken reassured her. "I just want you to keep a close watch on her for me. If you start to notice anything, I want you to gather your sisters and take her out if necessary."

Tash stared at the flickering green image of the Keeper's servant for a long moment before finally making her tongue cooperate. "You…you want us to send her to the Keeper?"

"Yes," Darken confirmed. "She's far too dangerous to allow to live. If she refuses to serve the Keeper, then she doesn't deserve to live."

"Yes, my lord," Tash murmured, lowering her head in regret, but knowing that her master's wishes must be carried out no matter how she felt about it. "I promise I will not let you down."

"I know you won't, Sister Tash," Darken smiled down upon her. "You will be rewarded for your faithful service to the Keeper."

"Thank you, my lord," Tash softly said.

Tash looked up again to find the campfire had returned to its normal orange glow again, Darken Rahl vanishing from sight. She let out the breath she had been holding as she quickly looked around her to find that her sisters were still sleeping soundly.

She checked to find that Sister Nicci was still asleep as well much to her great relief. As much as she hated the idea of crossing the deadly Sister of the Dark, she knew that it would be far worse to cross the Keeper.

Reaching for her blanket, she wrapped it securely around her shoulders as her watchful gaze fell on the powerful sorceress sleeping on the far edge of the clearing. She pulled her legs up to her chest, resting her chin on top of her knees hoping more than anything that she'd be able to carry out the Keeper's wishes if it came down to it.

She couldn't help the tremor of fear that rippled through her, knowing that she might end up having to face off against the most powerful sorceress who ever lived.

XXX

Kahlan ran as hard as she could, trying to escape the beast that was chasing her through the darkness that enveloped her. She was panting hard, her chest heaving as she sucked in large gulps of air as sweat trickled down her back.

She grunted as she careened into a rocky wall of the cavern she had found herself in, rubbing her sore arm as she continued to run. Its growl echoed through the cave and vibrated in her chest, the ground beneath her boots quaking. She risked a glance back over her shoulder, catching a brief glimpse of its white razor-sharp teeth in the flickering light cast by the torch clutched tightly in her hand.

She suddenly cried out as the rocky cave floor seemed to give way beneath her boots causing her to stumble and fall. The torch slipped from her sweaty grip, hitting the ground and rolling out of reach. The wind was knocked from her lungs as she landed hard, momentarily dazing her.

Kahlan quickly attempted to scramble to her feet, the beast's growling roar deafening as she fought to get to her feet once more. Her boots slipped in the scree, keeping her from regaining her balance. Terrified tears began to trickle down her cheeks as she clawed at the gravel, wishing that she could find Richard.

She could feel the beast's hot breath on her back, causing her to cry out in fear. She flipped onto her back as she attempted to scoot away only to find that she had nowhere to go. She pressed her back up against the rocky cave wall, trying to make herself as small as humanly possible.

The beast couldn't be seen in dark shadows of the cave, but she could feel him there, growing larger and closer with every fierce hammer of her heart that pounded in her ears. She couldn't breathe, couldn't make her mouth work as she tried to cry out for help.

This couldn't be it, couldn't be the end. She had a life that she wanted to live with Richard, a future with him and the family they wanted. Tears continued to stream down her cheeks, fear clawing at her throat. The beast's rancid breath blasted her in the face, telling her this was it.

Kahlan bolted upright out of her sleep with a sharp cry, her heart thundering wildly beneath her breast. Her entire body was trembling uncontrollably as she fought to catch the breath that her nightmare had just stolen.

She jumped when she felt strong arms winding around her, grabbing hold of her. She began to struggle against his hold on her only for the soothing sound of Richard's voice to suddenly cut through the confusion that still clouded her mind.

"Kahlan, it's me…it's Richard," he tried to reassure her. "You're safe."

Kahlan turned to find herself staring into deep chocolate brown eyes filled with worry gazing back at her. "Richard," she gasped in relief, throwing herself into his arms as tears leaked from her eyes.

She clung to him as she cried, unable to stop shaking from the terror that still coursed through her veins. Richard held her tightly, rubbing her back as he attempted to calm her down. He wasn't sure what she had dreamed about, but it hadn't been anything good.

"It's alright," he murmured into her hair. "I'm right here."

Kahlan pulled back, kissing him through her tears as she crawled into his lap. Close wasn't nearly close enough as she lost herself in the kiss, wanting to just forget the horror of the nightmare that had rattled her to her core.

Pulling back, Richard's hands came to rest on either side of her face, holding her still and forcing her to look at him. "What happened, Kahlan?" he asked her. "What did you dream about?"

Her eyes fell closed as she drew a ragged breath, trying to calm her racing heart. She shuddered as she thought back on what she had just experienced, wanting more than anything to just forget. "I…I was being chased," she whispered, pulling out of his hold on her.

"By who?"

Kahlan shook her head as she pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs. "I don't know what it was," she softly replied. "It was dark and it was chasing me through a cavern. It was like an animal of some sort…very big…with horns and large teeth."

The details of her nightmare suddenly triggered something in his memory. "Kahlan, I think your nightmare was actually a previous memory coming to the surface."

"What?" she asked, confused. She straightened up, brushing her hair back away from her face as she turned to look at her Seeker. "You're saying I experienced this before?"

"It wasn't long after we met," he explained. "Darken Rahl had put a bounty on my head. There was this girl who tricked us into going into a deep cavern where she pushed you off a ledge and took me prisoner. She left you there to die. You were able to escape, but not before being chased by a Shadrin."

"A Shadrin?" she questioned him. "What is that?"

"It's a large beast with horns and sharp teeth," he told her. "They were supposed to be nothing more than a myth, but you told me later after you rescued me about your encounter with one."

"So I obviously got away without it hurting me if I was able to rescue you after I escaped," she absentmindedly said, more to herself than to him as she thought back on the nightmare, hoping to remember more about the event.

"You were amazing, Kahlan," he replied with admiration in his voice. "I don't think anyone had actually encountered a Shadrin and lived to tell about it before you."

She felt a momentary spark of pride with his compliment only to have it vanish just as quickly as regret seeped through her, wishing that she could remember more of her life. "So tell me what happened after I escaped from the Shadrin?"

Richard pulled her against him as he laid them back on the bedroll, her head coming to rest against his chest. She slipped her arm over his abdomen, molding herself to him, hooking her leg over his. He tightened his hold on her, feeling her shiver against him as if still fighting the demons that haunted her sleep.

The nightmare had really rattled her, but he could hardly blame her. Dealing with a Shadrin was bad enough when you did have your memories and knew what was going on. It would be worse in Kahlan's position, not understanding what was happening.

"When I finally came to, Lily had me tied to the bed of a wagon," he began, gently stroking her hair as he thought back on that day. It had definitely not been his finest. "You came to my rescue then. I remember being so relieved that you were alright. I was so afraid that you were hurt in that cavern with that Shadrin and I couldn't get to you help you. You ended up not needing me after all."

"I'll always need you, Richard," she reassured him, tilting her head to press her lips to his chest.

Richard smiled to himself with her words. Little did she know that she was just as powerful as him if not more so. "And I'll always need you too."

"Tell me another one of our adventures," she replied as she caressed his side.

"I think I better tell you one that paints me in a much better light," he teased, chuckling softly and causing them both to shake.

"Richard, you could never look bad to me no matter what you do," she reassured him. "I think you're perfect just as you are."

"I'm far from perfect," he told her with a shake of his head. "When you get your memories back, you'll finally know that."

"I know what's in my heart," she insisted, "and my heart tells me you are the most amazing man in every way. I don't think I could possibly love you more than I already do now."

Richard suddenly shifted, rolling her onto her back as his lips met hers in a heated rush, her words of love touching his heart and awakening his desire. She meant absolutely everything to him, his love her absolute and irrevocable.

He pressed his body into hers, kissing her breathless. "I love you, Kahlan…I want you so badly," he murmured as his lips ghosted over her cheekbone before finding the spot behind her ear that drove her wild.

"I can tell," she gasped as she lifted her hips to press her pelvis fully against his hardening need.

Richard groaned at the feel of her so warm and soft beneath him. He had intended to hold her until she'd been able to fall back asleep, but now he found he couldn't stop himself from wanting her all over again. She always had that powerful affect on him, stirring his desire and igniting a fire deep within his belly like nothing he'd ever known before her.

Kahlan curved her body up into his, pressing her breasts against the smooth muscular contours of his chest and gasping contentedly at the contact that set her on fire as his mouth found hers once more in a searing kiss. His hand slipped between them, teasing her center and eliciting a gasp of pleasure.

She moaned as his hand moved to grip her thigh, bending her knee up as he pushed himself deep inside of her. He paused for a moment, just savoring the erotic sensation that always lanced through every part of him every time he joined himself with her, threatening to drive him over the edge.

Being with her like this was far better than any fantasy or dream that he'd ever had about her since first meeting her. He never wanted this to end, determined to never let anything come between them or try to break them apart.

Kahlan held him tightly to her, her hands stroking his back as he began to set a slow steady rhythm, taking his time loving her, wanting her to feel and know every single hard inch of him inside of her, knowing that only he could ever love her like this.

Her breath became his as she breathed out and he drew in, his slow steady build of passion with every thrust and grind of his hips driving them both more and more frantic for a release that he kept just out of reach for both of them.

His lips glided over her throat as she arched her neck, offering more of herself to him and grunting her frustration that was building to an almost unbearable level deep within her. Her fingers moved down his back to grip at his backside as she drew her knees even further up her body, desperate for him to drive deeper inside of her, pushing her over the edge he'd had them both teetering on for what felt like an eternity now as she rocked her hips with his.

Her every muscle strained and tensed in a frenzied need for the release being denied her, her body strung so tight by him. A low growl issued from the Seeker's throat as Kahlan groaned his name, a strangled plea lacing his name that he was far from ready to answer.

He sharply gasped her name as she dug her fingers into the firm muscles of his ass, trying to force him to move faster, harder as he continued to alternate between slow steady thrusts and hip grinding pleasure. Richard bit his bottom lip as he nuzzled her throat, fighting against his body's overwhelming demand to find that powerful release with her.

Her breath was a hot blast against his shoulder as she panted and twisted beneath him. The pleasure was beginning to grow excruciating for both of them as Kahlan spread her legs even further for him, praying he'd give her what she so desperately wanted. Instead, he eased up a little, allowing them both a brief reprieve before he began to drive her to that precipice all over again.

"Spirits! Richard…please…let me…Richard…" she panted, her head spinning with the sweet bliss that was pounding and twisting through her body.

She thought she was going to lose her mind if he didn't bring her to completion soon. Her heart was racing, her breath coming in staccato gasps as sweat glistened on her skin and pooled in the valley between her breasts. She shifted her legs again, hooking them over his and pressing her heals into his backside in an effort to make him give her what she so frantically needed in that moment.

Richard grunted with the feel of her heels and fingers pressing deeper and deeper into his flesh, turning him on even more with erotic pleasure. He knew that he had her strung tight, her body bowing, muscles clenching and unclenching as she frantically reached out for the release he was denying her.

Exhaustion began to set into his body, letting him know that he wasn't going to last much longer either at this rate. He was in the same frenzied state that she was in, but he wanted to make the ecstasy last for as long as humanly possible.

He reached his arm under her, his hand splayed across her low back to keep her pelvis pressed against his while his other snaked down between their bodies slick with sweat to find the junction between her legs. He swore the heat radiating off of their joined bodies could ignite their own fire as he finally began to pump harder into her, giving them both what they were aching for.

Every delicious slam of his hips against hers drove the air from her lungs causing her to cry out in pleasure. Her eyes rolled back in her head as he began to lightly caress her center, adding to the sweet torment that he'd already been giving her. Her body began to tremble, locked in a fierce state of frenzy, not knowing whether to contract or release, to let loose or stay lost in the sensations crashing over her.

Using his thumb, he applied more pressure to her center causing her to come with a scream that he swiftly silenced with his hot mouth slanted over hers. Her inner walls clamped down on him like a powerful vice, keeping him locked securely inside of her as she climaxed, her entire body seizing with the rapture that continually crashed over her with no perceivable end in sight.

Her muscles finally relaxed a little after what felt like forever, allowing him to finally continue thrusting into her again with wild abandon. His body abruptly grew rigid and arched as he came with a loud grunt, forcing her right into another climax with the feel of his hot seed suddenly filling her so very full and making her feel complete as she milked him for all that he had.

Her chest heaved beneath him as she greedily gulped in air, fighting to regain some semblance of control. She finally unhooked her legs from his once her mind and body started to cooperate again. Boneless with euphoria, Richard quickly rolled off of her to keep from crushing her, lying on his back next to her as he too struggled to catch his breath.

He didn't think that he'd ever come so hard in his entire life, nearly causing him to black out. Finally regaining control of his body again, Richard got up, going to the bucket of water and cloth that sat on a bench near the fire. He dipped the cloth into the bucket, wringing out the water before returning to Kahlan.

He gently began cleaning both of them up, removing evidence of their union and secretly hoping that they had made a baby by now. He knew it was selfish of him to be thinking about wanting to have a baby with her when she couldn't remember anything about her life and with Demos still on the loose.

Noticing the pensive expression on his face as he knelt beside her, she couldn't help but feel his struggle as he gently ran the warm cloth over her thighs. "What is it, Richard?" she asked, rolling onto her side so she could face him. "What are you thinking about?"

"It's nothing," he tried to tell her.

Richard stood up, dropping the cloth back into the bucket before returning to her. He settled on the bedroll beside her, lying down and pulling her into his arms. She contentedly cuddled up next to him, molding herself to his body as she rested her head on his chest.

"You were thinking about something," she tried again.

"I was just thinking about how much I love you…how much you mean to me," he told her, not wanting to add to the chaos that was storming around her by adding the notion of a baby into the mix.

"I love you too," she sleepily replied, failing to stifle a yawn.

"Sleep, Kahlan," he murmured, stroking her hair and feeling her relax in his arms.

She fell asleep quickly, feeling safe and loved in the arms of her Seeker. Richard tilted his chin, kissing the top of her head, hoping that the nightmares would stay away and allow her the sleep that she needed.

It gave him a small glimmer of optimism that took root knowing that the nightmare had been related to a distant memory. He hoped the rest of her memories would resurface as well without her having to endure anymore pain or sickness. He just hoped it wouldn't come in the form of nightmares.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Richard quietly exited the Spirit House, gently closing the door behind him. Turning, he found Cara coming towards him. "Morning," he softly greeted her with a smile.

Cara immediately frowned with his greeting. "Why are you whispering?"

"Kahlan is still sleeping," he informed her, grabbing her by the elbow and leading her away from the Spirit House.

A knowing smirk crossed the Mord'Sith's face as they came to a stop, her hands automatically finding her hips. "Well, if you could keep your hands off of her maybe she could get some sleep."

Richard averted his eyes in embarrassment, his insides flushing warmly with remembrance of how intensely passionate things had gotten last night between him and Kahlan. It had been incredible and erotic and left him craving her even more, but he'd managed to stay in control of his appetite for her, allowing them both some much needed sleep this morning.

"She's having nightmares, Cara," he said with a frown. "I think her memories are struggling to resurface despite the spell."

"Do you think Zedd's magic has helped her then?" Cara asked.

"It definitely stirred up something," he thoughtfully agreed. "She had nightmares about a Shadrin she faced a couple of months after we had first met."

"Does she remember much of anything else?"

Richard shook his head, his frown deepening further. "No, nothing else," he admitted. "I'm hoping with time that she'll begin to remember more, but I don't want it to continue to cause her nightmares. That's no way to get her memories back."

"But isn't it better than not getting them back at all?" Cara questioned him.

"I don't know anymore," he replied in exasperation, his frustration and anger always right there beneath the surface since this whole thing with Demos had first started. "No matter what happens it's causing her pain of some kind. She was really shaken up last night with the nightmares."

"I'm sure you found a way to make her feel better," Cara commented with a smirk.

A smile tugged at the corners of his lips, ready to change the subject. "I think we should start heading to Aydindril tomorrow. We need to get Kahlan back there where Zedd can help her. Then, I'm going after Demos."

"Finally!" Cara cried. "It's about time someone listens to me, but I don't like the idea of you going after Demos. You need to just stay away from him. I will go handle Demos Rahl myself."

"Cara, you are not going after Demos by yourself," Richard heatedly stated, his voice hard and leaving no room for argument. "He is my brother and I will handle him. This is between him and me."

"He wants you and Kahlan," she reminded him, refusing to back down. "He will not stop until you are dead and Kahlan is his to torment and rape as he pleases."

"Don't you think I know that?" he spat out, fire dancing in his chocolate brown eyes. "It's why I have to go after him and end this once and for all before he can get to Kahlan."

"What are you going to do about the prophecy Zedd said that you had discovered?"

Richard's jaw instantly clenched, his body growing rigid with the reminder of the damned prophecy that haunted his life. "Nothing," he ground out. "I'm not going to allow prophecy to dictate my life. I will take care of Demos and then I am going to marry Kahlan regardless of what some prophecy says."

"Will you at least let me come with you to the People's Palace to end Demos?" she asked. "I know that place inside and out. I can get you in without being captured."

"We'll discuss it later," he finally relented with a heavy sigh. "Right now my greatest concern is Kahlan and getting her back to Aydindril."

"Cara!" Temin called to the Mord'Sith as he approached. "Are you ready to go?"

Richard looked from Cara to Temin and back again, a smile spreading across his face. He was somewhat taken aback by the recent turn of events with Cara and her newfound friendship. "Where are you two heading now?"

"We're going hunting for more deer," Temin replied. "My sister's bonding ceremony is tonight and we need a couple more deer for the feast."

"I'll be back later," Cara told him, taking the extra bow and arrows from Temin.

"Have a good time," Richard said with a crooked smile.

Cara huffed in annoyance, rolling her eyes at the silly grin on his face. She called him something profane as she walked away, refusing to give him a second look as he started to laugh. He watched the pair disappear into the words, the heaviness in his heart suddenly expanding with his desire to marry Kahlan only growing stronger every day.

He wished more than anything that it was them getting married tonight along with Temin's sister, but that wasn't going to be happening any time soon. He felt guilty for wanting something so much when Kahlan was obviously struggling so hard right now with what was happening to her. Unfortunately, it wasn't getting better for her any time soon.

It was beyond infuriating being forced to just sit back and watch someone he loved so deeply suffer like this and not be able to do a damn thing to help her. He rubbed his eyes burning with fatigue, opening them to find Zedd coming towards him.

"Richard, my boy," Zedd happily greeted him. "You look tired. Rough night?"

"Kahlan kept having nightmares last night," he told him, sitting down a crude looking bench, his grandfather settling down next to him.

Zedd's wiry white eyebrows bunched together in sudden concern. "What kind of nightmares?"

"Remember when there was that bounty on my head and Lily captured me in order to make a trade to free her brother?" he asked, waiting until Zedd nodded his head before finally continuing. "Kahlan had a nightmare about the Shadrin that attacked her in that cave Lily had left her in."

Zedd stroked his chin as he considered this revelation. He could feel his grandson's intent gaze studying him and hoping for some answers to all of this. "This could be a good sign that Kahlan may get her memories back on her own," he finally spoke.

The apprehension in Zedd's tone was not lost on the Seeker. "Could be?" Richard questioned him. "You think this could be bad?"

"Well, it's very unfortunate for Kahlan if her memories are breaking free in the form of nightmares," he explained, still considering this unexpected turn of events. "The problem is that the mind can be a very fickle thing. Thoughts and memories can be influenced by so many things such as emotions and perceptions.

"The fact that it's coming back in her dreams can add a disturbing aspect that can twist events into something altogether different. It could definitely muddy the waters even more."

Richard leaned forward resting his forearms on his knees and holding his head in his hands. "I don't know what to do for her anymore," he confessed with a weary sigh. "Everything we try ends up causing her more harm. Demos thought of everything when he created this spell, didn't he?"

"I'm afraid that he certainly did," Zedd agreed, his expression grim. "I wish I could say that I had an easy explanation or fix for Kahlan, but I'm afraid I just don't…at least not until I can get to the Wizard's Keep in Aydindril and see what I can find. We're dealing with occult magic that I'm not familiar with."

Richard felt an icy shiver of dread wrap around his heart as if it was the Keeper's hand itself, his fingers tightening. He hated magic, but he hated dark magic even more. "I don't know how to fight this, Zedd. It's not something that I can battle with my sword or shoot with an arrow."

Zedd patted his grandson on the back, understanding the weight of his grief and frustration. He wished that Richard and Kahlan could find some peace and happiness without the distractions and dangers that came with the titles they carried.

"I also want to dig deeper into this prophecy you told me about."

"It's probably nothing," Richard absentmindedly murmured, his gaze on the Spirit House, anxiously waiting for Kahlan to wake up. He wanted to spend the day with her, hoping he could help rebuild some memories for her.

"I doubt it's nothing, Richard," Zedd said with a shake of his head. "If the Seeker of Truth feels it's something then there's definitely something to it. You wouldn't have felt such an intense sense of dread inside about it if it was truly nothing to be concerned about. The feeling hasn't completely left…has it?"

Richard drew a shaky breath, his eyes closing in reluctant acceptance of what his grandfather was telling him. "No," he softly admitted. "I'm terrified of what could happen to Kahlan if I marry her. That's my heart's deepest desire – to spend my life with her, to have a family with her. What if following that desire ends up hurting her somehow? I'd never be able to live with myself if something happened to her and yet I know that I can't survive without her."

"We'll figure this mess out, Richard," the wizard reassured him, noticing his grandson's expression brightening as he spotted Kahlan suddenly coming out of the Spirit House. "We won't give up on her."

"Never," Richard whispered in agreement as he immediately made his way to her.

Zedd watched as Richard stood before Kahlan, his arms wrapping so protectively around her and pulling her close. He noticed the way that the Confessor's face immediately lit up at the sight of her Seeker, the way that her sapphire eyes sparkled like the rarest diamonds when she looked at Richard.

It warmed his heart to see his grandson so in love with an amazing woman like Kahlan. He wanted more than anything to give them the chance at the life they desperately wanted. He just hoped that he'd be able to find the answers that they needed in order to help Kahlan so they could have the happiness that they deserved.

The wrinkles around his mouth deepened with the smile as he watched his grandson take Kahlan's hand in his, leading her towards the woods. He swore that in all of his years he'd never seen a couple more in love than those two were.

Hopefully, they would be able to stop Demos before he came at them again, before he destroyed them for good.

XXX

Kahlan ran her brush through her hair, her mind a thousand leagues from the Aku village as the bristles repeatedly raked through her thick raven strands. She couldn't shake the dread that lingered in her veins, the way that the nightmare had rattled her to her core.

The only thing that had gotten her through the night had been Richard, the protective shelter that his arms had provided her, the reassurance and love that his body had given her. Without him, she knew she'd be completely lost.

Setting her brush down, she pulled the sides of her hair back, securing it at the back of her head. She couldn't help the apprehension that continually simmered inside of her, threatening to expand and consume her. She found herself growing anxious as evening drew near.

The thought of going to sleep and possibly reliving more memories through her nightmares didn't exactly sound like something that she wanted to experience again. At the same time, she wanted her memories…her life back more than anything, not only for herself but for Richard as well.

He had told her that they were going to be attending a wedding tonight and it only added to her worry. It was going to be more than difficult watching this couple be pronounced as one when it was something that she and Richard wanted more than anything as well.

She slipped on the blue dress that Richard told her Caref had made for her, the corners of her lips curling, remembering the way that Richard's eyes darkened to an even deeper shade of brown whenever he saw her in it. She could practically feel the intense desire, the heat radiating off of his perfect body whenever he was near her. It always set her heart aflame with the love she felt for him.

A sudden rap at the wooden door alerted her that it was time to go. She nervously ran her hands over her dress, smoothing it out before running her fingers through the raven curls that flowed down her back. "I'm coming," she called.

"Take your time, Kahlan," Richard's voice came through the door.

"No, I'm ready," she insisted as she quickened her step, pushing the door open to find her handsome Seeker standing there wearing the native Aku wrap circling his waist...and nothing else.

Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him, her stunned gaze roaming over the chiseled expanse of his chest, his broad shoulders as well as the narrow cut of his hips. She raked her teeth over her bottom lip as her gaze followed the defined muscles on either side of his hips that disappeared beneath the bright material to what she intimately knew lay hidden beneath.

She loved following that muscular indent of hard muscle with her hands, caressing him and allowing it to lead her fingers to wrap around his thick manhood so hot and hard like steel. A sigh of longing suddenly slipped past her lips as she slowly closed the distance between them.

Richard felt a shiver of desire lance through him as if it had been a bolt of lightning itself, powerful and hot and overpowering. She looked utterly breathtaking, almost painfully so. It was nearly unbearable to stare at her and yet he couldn't tear his eyes away even if he had wanted to.

A soft gasp escaped as his hand unconsciously reached up to touch an errant curl, caressing the silken lock before allowing it to slip past his fingers. His hand found the delicate curve of her cheek, watching as the flames from the torch lights danced and sparkled in her sapphire eyes.

"Kahlan," he murmured, her name barely audible as he struggled to draw a breath. "So very beautif..."

Before he could even finish his sentence, Kahlan's lips were crashing into his, the palms of her hands coming to rest against the muscular planes of his chest. The warmth of his skin beneath her fingers was heating her blood, the eager participation of his mouth causing arousal to settle low in her pelvis.

She retreated with a gasp, breathing heavily as she rested her forehead against his. "You look very handsome tonight."

Richard chuckled lightly as his hands settled on either side of her face, tilting her head down to tenderly press his lips to her forehead. "I can tell you like my skirt," he said. "Very manly isn't it? You don't remember seeing me wear it before do you?"

Kahlan silently shook her head, her heart sinking with the heaviness that guilt always brought with it. "No…I'm sorry I don't. I wish I could."

"It's alright," he reassured her. "The expression on your face tonight was exactly the same as that night a few weeks ago when you first saw me."

"You still remember that moment?" she asked, stunned.

"Kahlan, it's a moment that I'll never forget," he confessed, his hands slipping down to rest on either side of her neck. "I spotted you from across the clearing. There were Aku everywhere when our eyes suddenly found each others. It was…incredible. It was as if time itself had abruptly stood still."

Her arms snaked around his neck, drawing him to her again in another passionate kiss. No matter how horrible she felt, how discouraged or frustrated she became, he always made her feel so loved…so wanted.

She teased his bottom lip, raking her teeth across it and sucking on it before finally releasing it. "You are making it more than difficult not to just pick you up and take you back into the Spirit House…to ravish you senseless."

"Later," she whispered, kissing him once more before pulling out of his hold on her. "We have a wedding to attend."

"Someday it will be our own," he reassured her, taking her hand in his and leading her to where everyone was beginning to gather.

"Promise?" she asked, leaning into his shoulder.

"I swear on my life that I am going to marry you someday, Kahlan," he adamantly stated. "You are going to be my wife soon and we will have a houseful of children."

"And how many children do you want to have?"

"No more than twenty," he teased, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye to catch her reaction. He couldn't contain his laughter when she came to a sudden stop, her mouth falling open in shock. "I'm only teasing."

Kahlan playfully smacked him on the arm, her brow knitting together in annoyance. "Richard!" she cried.

Richard's laughter only deepened, taking on a hearty tone that caused a flutter to erupt in the pit of her stomach. "I want as many children as you want and not one more or less."

"That's a much better answer," she decided as they drew near to the gathering.

Tolla quickly spotted them approaching, a broad smile spreading across his face. "Seeker Richard! Confessor Kahlan!" he greeted them. "You are to sit at a place of honor with me and Caref."

"You don't have to do that," Kahlan said, wrapping her arms around Richard's left arm. "We're just honored to be able to be here with you tonight."

"No…no, we insist," Tolla told her with a shake of his head. "Come with me. We're about to start."

Richard and Kahlan followed Tolla to a special platform that was used especially for occasion such as this. They found Zedd and Cara already seated on the wooden platform with Mitta, the elder of the Aku, and Caref.

Richard allowed Kahlan to take her seat beside Mitta before sitting down beside his Confessor, his hand coming to rest on her knee. She beamed a radiant smile at him that immediately melted his heart as her hand came to rest on top of his.

A single drum began to sound, a deep steady beat that seemed to match the thumping of her heart as the Aku scattered on the ground before them all grew silent. She watched with rapt attention as all heads turned to find Athanas coming from the back of the crowded clearing in the center of the village.

He was a large young man with very broad shoulders and muscular arms, long ebony hair pulled into a low ponytail. A bright purple wrap adorned his waist, a long thin strip of purple tied around his right wrist. He walked with great strength and pride to the center of the crowd, his expression serious but his dark brown eyes were bright with excitement.

The beat of the drum suddenly increased into a powerful roll like the hooves of a hundred horses as everyone stood to their feet and bowed their heads. Kahlan looked to see that everyone on the platform remained seated while the rest of the Aku stood for Temin's sister, Pasha.

A beautiful girl entered from the opposite side of the village wearing the same color of purple. The wrap draped her body perfectly, her dark hair arranged in an elegant braid with flowers. A long thin strip of purple was tied to her left wrist similar to Athanas.

Her head was slightly bowed as she approached her mate, coming to a stop before him. Kahlan could practically feel their love for one another, the excitement that was brimming in the air around them as the drum suddenly stopped.

Mitta stood to her foot at that moment, descending from the platform and making her way towards the couple facing one another in the middle of the gathering as everyone sat back down on the ground. The elder woman held up both hands, the silence surrounding them practically deafening.

She began to utter words in their native language, something that Kahlan couldn't begin to decipher. Despite not knowing the words being spoken, the meaning was more than obvious, the cadence beautiful in its own way similar to a dance.

It was mesmerizing to behold as Mitta began to circle around them as she spoke blessings upon the couple. She paused long enough to grasp hold of one end of the thin purple strip tied to Athanas's right wrist and began to wrap it around Pasha, bringing it around behind her to tie the young woman's left wrist.

When she had finished tying it, Mitta took the thin purple strip that had been previously tied to Pasha's left wrist, bringing it around behind Athanas to tie to his right wrist and joining them together as one. The elder woman raised both hands, allowing them to come to rest on each of their heads.

"Two bodies, two hearts, two souls," Mitta suddenly said, her voice loud and ringing out throughout the gathering despite her small withered frame. "I now pronounce you one – one in body, one in heart, and one in soul. Never shall this bond be broken, never in life and not even in death…forever one."

Richard felt his heart begin to thump a little harder as he watched the ceremony playing out before them. He cast a glance at the beautiful woman beside him, noticing a tear escape from the corner of her eye to slowly trickle down her cheek.

Despite the tear, there was an expression of awe and beauty on her face, one that charmed him clear to his toes. There was a sweet innocence about her, a life that hadn't been completely tainted by the evils of the world around them despite what Demos had done to them or blemished by the horrors that she had endured during her life up this point.

Not having her memories had left her with a fresh viewpoint of life, pure like the eyes of a newborn. He hated to see this optimistic unforeseen consequence of it all disappear once her memories were restored and yet he wanted his Kahlan to be whole again. He needed her more than anything in this world to survive.

He just wished she didn't have to remember all the horrible things that she'd been forced to endure – the abuse by her father, the torture by the Wizard Giller, the countless battles they'd had to fight, the death of her fellow Confessors…her sister Dennee.

There were so many tragedies that he wanted to shield her from reliving or experiencing in her nightmares and yet he knew he couldn't do that to her. She deserved to know what had happened in her life. All that had happened to her helped to shape the woman that she had become, the woman that he had fallen so in love with.

If even one moment in time were erased, a part of Kahlan could be erased as well.

Richard scooted closer to her, his fingers interlacing with hers and holding it tightly. He gently kissed her temple, a murmured proclamation of love lingering on his lips. "Someday, Kahlan…someday soon. I promise."

She turned to look at him, her eye glistening with tears and his special smile on her lips. She knew in her heart that he wouldn't give up until they were finally married. It brought her a sense of peace knowing that he loved her that much, refused to give up on them or her.

Turning her attention to the young couple as Mitta made a final pronouncement; Kahlan could only hope that it would happen before Demos could sink his claws into their lives again or the prophecy that they had learned in Canecia could destroy what they had found in each other.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hope you enjoy the update, but just a warning! Demos is really wicked at the end.**

**Chapter 9**

Richard woke to the sound of someone knocking, his brain clouded with sleep, his left side held down by the beautiful woman sleeping beside him. With a confused frown, he carefully slid out from under Kahlan, trying his best not to wake her. He reached for her green blanket, gently covering her before grabbing his breeches and slipping them on.

He quickly went to the door, opening it to find Zedd standing there. Richard squinted as he stepped out into the bright sunlight, closing the door behind him as he tried to make his sleep-deprived mind work. "Zedd?" Richard groggily muttered. "What is it?"

"I thought you wanted to leave for Aydindril today?" he reminded him.

"I do," he agreed. "Why?"

"Well, it's almost lunchtime," he informed him. "If you want to get a good start, we should probably be leaving soon don't you think?"

Richard scrubbed his face with his hands in an effort to banish the fatigue. "I didn't realize it was so late."

Zedd frowned as he studied his grandson. "Are you alright, my boy?"

"Kahlan had more nightmares again last night," he revealed.

"What about?"

"Wizard Giller," Richard ground out. The memory and the fury that accompanied the incident was still fresh in his own mind. Being forced to watch as Giller had tortured Kahlan had been next to unbearable. "Except instead of remembering him driving those needles into her, he was also trying to rape her."

"That part never happened," Zedd murmured as he considered it. "Did it?"

"No, it didn't," he sighed heavily as he leaned against the wooden door frame of the Spirit House. "She must be remembering Darken Rahl attacking her in the Underworld when she died."

The wizard could see the rage burning hotly in the Seeker's eyes with the reminder of losing Kahlan, of what she had been forced to endure at the hands of Darken Rahl before they'd been able to save her. "I'm sorry, Richard," he finally said. "I'm afraid that my attempts to unlock her memories have only caused a backlash of sorts."

"It's not your fault, Zedd," Richard reassured him. "You were only trying to help. Besides, you had no way of knowing this was going to happen."

"I know, but this is worse for Kahlan than if she never got her memories back," Zedd grumbled. "It's no way to suddenly remember parts of her life through nightmares without having them twisted and warped like that."

"I just wish we could stop the nightmares," he admitted. "She's not only exhausted, but she's afraid to go to sleep now."

"Poor thing," Zedd murmured. "Let me talk to Odo and see if there's something we can come up with to help her."

"I'd appreciate anything you can think of," Richard replied, turning at the sudden sound of Kahlan crying.

Richard and Zedd quickly entered to find Kahlan sitting up with her blanket wrapped around her, her knees drawn up and her arms embracing her legs. She was trembling uncontrollably, tears like a waterfall down her face.

Richard immediately went to her, kneeling down and pulling her into his arms. "It's alright," he told her.

"I'm going to go talk to Odo now," Zedd announced as he turned to leave to allow them some privacy.

Richard held her as she struggled to regain control, her breathing erratic as she clung to him. "What was it this time?"

"Demos Rahl," she choked out, pressing her face further into the crook of his neck, her tears trickling down his bare chest. "He was trying to take you away from me."

Richard could feel her tighten her hold on him as if afraid that he'd just disappear into thin air. "It's alright, Kahlan," he attempted to reassure her. "I promise I'm not going anywhere."

"Please don't go after him," she pleaded with him as she pulled away to look into his face. "We need to stay as far away from him as possible."

Her eyes were wild with panic, her chest heaving as she fought to catch her breath. He took her face in his hands. "Kahlan, you need to calm down," he sternly told her. "Nothing is going to happen to me"

"You…you don't know that," she insisted, shaking her head as her tears feel faster. "Demos is powerful and he wants you, Richard. He's not going to give up until he finally has you."

"Kahlan, we will deal with Demos later," he firmly stated. "Right now, I'm more worried about you and getting your memories back. You can't keep going on like this with these nightmares every night. They're just twisting events and making things worse."

"Stop worrying about me all the time and worry about yourself for once," she snapped, her frustration spiraling out of control. "I'm fine, Richard, but I won't be if I end up losing you."

Richard pressed his lips to hers, kissing her deeply. "Do you trust me, Kahlan?" he asked, breathless from the kiss.

"Of course I trust you, Richard, but…"

"Then trust me in this, Kahlan," he said. "Trust me to get us through this and to handle Demos."

Kahlan's shoulders sank as she stared into warm brown eyes filled with such love it overwhelmed her sometimes. "Alright," she finally whispered, allowing him to pull her into his embrace again. "I'm sorry."

Richard tilted his head to kiss the top of her hair as he tightened his arms around her. "You never have to apologize to me."

"But you haven't gotten much sleep the last two nights because of me," she pointed out. "Why don't you stay here and sleep while I go down to the hot springs to get cleaned up?"

Richard sat up straighter, suddenly feeling more awake. "No, I think I had better accompany you to get cleaned up. It might be dangerous."

Kahlan pulled back, her lips quirking into a smile as she stood to her feet and began searching for her clothes that Richard had removed last night. "I'm pretty sure I can find it myself. You really should get some sleep especially if we're still planning on leaving today."

"Kahlan," Richard said, grabbing his pack and slinging it onto his shoulder. "If I have to choose between making love to you in the hot spring or sleep, I'll choose you every single time."

Kahlan paused at the door, a frown on her lips. "Who said I was going to let you make love to me in the springs?"

The Seeker's face fell in disappointment as he came to an abrupt stop. "You really don't want me to?"

She attempted to school her features into an impassive expression. Unfortunately, Richard was too handsome to resist, a mischeivious grin cracking through. "Always, Richard," she replied. "I love the way that you make me feel when we make love. I feel so safe, so loved when I'm with you. It's the most amazing pleasure that I think I've ever experienced."

His hands reached for her hips as he roughly pulled her against his hard body. "Maybe I should just take you right here…right now," he threatened, his lips hovering dangerously close to hers. "You have no idea what you do to me, how deeply I truly love you, Kahlan."

"I have a pretty good idea," she teased with a soft gasp as he bucked his hips hard against hers. "I don't know what you see in me or why you chose to love me. From what I remember and what has happened to us so far, it seems to me that I've done nothing but cause you heartache and trouble."

"No, Kahlan," he adamantly insisted. "Yes, it hurts me to see you hurting and struggling, but knowing and love you has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. Nothing could ever change that."

His special smile graced her lips as she pressed them to his. "I'm pretty sure you're the best part of me. I don't want to remember the parts of my life that don't include you."

Richard suddenly kissed her with a ferocity that surprised them both, stealing her breath. Kahlan pulled back, her hands continuing to roam over his perfectly sculpted chest. "Race you to the hot springs," she breathlessly challenged him before playfully pushing him back to give herself a head start.

He watched as she darted out of the Spirit House like a gazelle, taking him by surprise, leaving him fully aroused and desperate for more. It was definitely hard to worry about Demos Rahl when she kept putting a smile on his face and bringing him unspeakable pleasure, but he knew that he was going to have to face him sooner or later.

Unfortunately, he had a dreadful feeling it was going to be sooner than he'd like.

XXX

"Richard," Zedd said, laying a hand on his grandson's shoulder. "I think it's worth a shot."

The Seeker frowned as he considered what his grandfather and Odo had suggested. It caused sick dread to churn in the pit of his stomach as he remembered the last time they had tried it. "I don't know, Zedd," he replied, his reticence obvious. "The last time they tried contracting their ancestor's spirits it didn't go well at all."

"What happened?" Zedd asked.

"Darken Rahl showed up," he informed him. "You can imagine how well that went. It was because of him that we found out about the marking spell that Demos had put on Kahlan."

"And it turned out to be far more than just a simple marking spell," Zedd said with disgust in his voice. "I can see why you'd be reluctant to try it again, but Odo seems to think that consulting their spirit ancestors might be able to provide some answers for Kahlan."

"How are Aku spirits ancestors going to be able to help?" Richard asked, exasperated.

"Odo is only trying to help, Richard," he calmly replied. "He's hoping that their tribe's spirits might be able to tell us how to unlock her memories and stop the nightmares."

"I know," he agreed, raking his fingers back through his brown hair in frustration. "I'm just scared if we try anything else we could end up making things even worse for Kahlan. Not to mention, we risk Darken Rahl showing up again."

"I have a feeling there's going to be a risk no matter what we try from here on out for Kahlan," the wizard informed him. "She can't go on living like this reliving her life through her nightmares."

Richard's jaw was clenched tightly, his hands balled into fists as he leaned forward, attempting to weigh their options. He wished he could just snap his fingers and be back in Aydindril searching for what they needed to remove Demos's spell, but it wasn't that easy. It never was.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, fighting back a headache that he could feel coming on. "We'll have to let Kahlan make the decision," he finally decided.

"What decision do I have to make?" Kahlan asked as she sat down beside Richard, handing him a plate of food.

"Odo thinks that calling a gathering to meet with the Aku ancestors' spirits might be able to provide some answers to help you," Zedd told her.

"And you're against it?" she asked as she looked at Richard, noticing the scowl on his face. "Why? Are you worried that something bad is going to happen?"

"It's not that I'm totally against it," he admitted. "It's just that we tried something like this before and Demos's twin brother Darken Rahl showed up from the Underworld."

"He didn't hurt us did he?"

"No, he was in spirit form, but it upset you and I don't want to put you through that again," Richard revealed.

"Darken Rahl did something terrible to me, didn't he?" she questioned him with a frown.

"You died for a short period of time and were trapped in the Underworld with him," he informed her. "He attacked you and tried to rape you, but we brought you back to life before he could finish."

Kahlan visibly trembled with the revelation as she stared down at the plate of food on her lap. "Oh…I see," she murmured, pulling a raven lock behind her ear. "So that nightmare I had last night was Darken Rahl trying to rape me not this Wizard Giller."

Zedd came to sit on the other side of Kahlan, his hand coming to rest on her knee. "He can't touch you here, my dear. There's nothing to fear."

Kahlan drew a deep breath, releasing it slowly. "Why do your brothers want me so bad?" she asked, turning to Richard. "I'm not anyone special."

"Kahlan, you're absolutely beautiful for starters," he told her like it was more than obvious. "They know that I love you more than anything so they want you so they can hurt me."

"And you're the most powerful Mother Confessor who has ever lived since the first Magda Searus," Zedd added.

"I don't even remember what a Confessor is," she snapped. "How am I supposed to lead the Midlands when I don't remember anything about it or myself? That is why I need to try this no matter the outcome."

"I don't like this," the Seeker coldly stated as he stood to his feet. "I think we're asking for more trouble by doing it. I'd rather get you to Aydindril and see what Zedd can do."

"And I'm willing to do whatever it takes to break this spell Demos has on me that is keeping my memories locked away," she angrily shot back as she leapt to her feet as well. "As long as Demos has this hold on me, we'll never truly be rid of him. He'll always be there with us and I will not live like that."

She turned and walked away leaving her untouched lunch behind. Richard sat down in heated frustration, his stomach as well as his heart in his boots. There was going to be no talking her out of it. Once her mind was made up that was almost always the end of the argument.

"Well, I guess I'll tell Odo that we're going to go ahead with the gathering this afternoon," Zedd finally said, his voice cutting through the thick tension that lingered in the air. "I know you're worried about her, Richard, but it is ultimately her decision. If we can discover something through this then I think it's worth trying. There's no guarantee that the Wizard's Keep will hold the answers we need."

Richard slowly nodded his head unable to make his voice work at that moment as he picked at his plate of food. He suddenly had no appetite as he thought about having to see Darken Rahl again, leering at Kahlan and making threats and not being able to do a damn thing about it.

He just hoped it would be worth it in the end, giving them some sort of solution to this horrible spell that refused to be broken.

XXX

Cara made her way through the village with a resolute mission in mind – trying to gather as many supplies as she could so they could leave soon. They should have been gone with the rising of the sun this morning, but that obviously hadn't happened as of yet.

It still amazed her to no end that no one else seemed to be the least bit worried about getting to Aydindril or what Demos could be up to at this very moment. It was already lunch and they still hadn't made any effort to gather their things or say their goodbyes to anyone.

With a huffing curse under her breath and a scowl on her lips, she stalked through the Aku village searching for the Seeker so they could leave. Coming around one of the Aku huts, she noticed Kahlan coming towards her.

The Mord'Sith's insides instantly tightened at the sight of her. Since she had woken, things had been rather tense and uncomfortable between them. She had given Kahlan space as she tried to adjust to things, fighting to recover what had been stolen from her.

She had hoped that with time the Confessor would come to remember her more, recalling the more honorable moments that they had shared and not the horrible things that Cara had done. She feared that Kahlan had remembered something about her, remembered how she had taken her sister Dennee's life and that was why she always looked at her with fear and uncertainty in her eyes.

She also didn't want her friend to relieve that pain all over again, have to deal with the sorrow and heartache that her actions had inflicted upon her. She knew she was being selfish, but at the same time she finally had a real family, one that truly cared about her. She hadn't had something like that since she'd been taken from her real family.

While the Mord'Sith had been Sisters, it had been a bond forged through terror and torture, an allegiance that could turn in a heartbeat. And it had, her Sisters of the Agiel turning on her, beating her and leaving her for dead.

Right now, though, the Mother Confessor looked extremely upset. Even with her head down, Kahlan looked furious, her hands clenched tightly at her sides. Cara knew she needed to see what was wrong or they were never going to get out of here.

Drawing a deep breath, Cara made her way to her, almost certain that Richard had been the one who had said or done something to upset her. "Kahlan, what's wrong?" she asked as she approached.

Looking up, Kahlan came to an abrupt stop, startled by the Mord'Sith's unexpected appearance. "It's just Richard," she said with a huff of annoyance.

The Mord'Sith folded her arms against her chest, keeping a little distance between them in order to not scare her off. "What did he do now?"

"He's always trying to coddle and protect me," she groused. "He doesn't want me to do this spirit gathering that Odo said we should try to help me get my memories back."

"Why doesn't he want to do it?"

"I guess we did something like this before when we first arrived here and Darken Rahl showed up," she told her. "I guess it upset me because he tried to rape me when I was in the Underworld, but I don't remember any of it so it shouldn't matter now."

Cara thought about it for a long moment, annoyed that they were trying to do a spirit gathering now when they were trying to get out of here and back to Aydindril. As much as she wanted Kahlan to get her memories back, she still held a measure of fear of how she would react to her if she knew what she had done. Would she still forgive her?

"It's only because Richard loves you so much, Kahlan," Cara finally said. "He doesn't want to see you hurt again. None of us do."

"But Darken Rahl can't hurt me anymore," Kahlan replied with a shake of her head. "Richard and Zedd both said that if he does show up again, he's in spirit form. He can't hurt me or anyone else."

"Richard's probably afraid that if you see him again, it will bring back more bad memories for you," Cara offered.

"Isn't that better than to not remember anything at all or these nightmares that won't let me sleep?"

Cara pursed her lips, her heart heavy. "Sometimes there are things that are better not to remember."

Kahlan studied her, her blue eyes narrowing. The Mord'Sith suddenly looked somewhat sad, apprehensive. It was so unlike the brusque, confident façade that usually exuded from her, the fearsome exterior that she frequently wore.

"Is there something that you three don't want me to remember?" she tentatively asked, her forehead creased with worry.

Cara drew a deep breath before finally responding. "There were some things that have happened to you in your life, Kahlan, things that you will probably wish you hadn't remembered when we get your memories back for you. As a Confessor, you've been forced to endure and face many difficulties so far, a life filled with more than your fair share of strife and heartache. None of us want to watch you have to relive that pain."

It suddenly felt like ice water trickling through her veins as she listened to Cara, the solemnity in her green eyes telling her that the Mord'Sith was being very honest with her. Although it scared her to think of what she could be referring to, she found that she appreciated her truthfulness.

Although she felt that Richard had never lied to her since all of this began, she felt at times as though he was trying to shield her from the truth of her life, attempting to protect her from what had happened to her. She knew he was only doing it because he loved her so much, but as difficult as it was going to be, she wanted to know everything about herself, her life.

"What happened to me?" she softly pleaded, desperate for answers.

Cara felt her throat constrict as tears began to shine brightly in Kahlan's eyes, the fear and confusion in her almost whispered plea enough to break the Mord'Sith's heart. Her friend had been through so very much, suffering in life in some ways as much as Cara herself had. It was a common bond that they shared and that Cara secretly treasured.

They had both endured so much throughout their lives and yet they had both overcome it all, fought for a better way and had come out even stronger for it.

"Your life hasn't been one long nightmare," Cara told her, hoping to ease her anxiety some. "There have been some very good times too, especially with Richard."

"I want to remember so badly," Kahlan softly confessed, averting her eyes as the tears began to escape. "Even though I know some things will hurt, I want to know what happened to me, Cara. Everything that has happened throughout my life has shaped me, had helped to make me who I am today. I'm so tired of not knowing who I am."

"I know exactly who you are," Cara firmly said, taking a step closer and grabbing hold of the Confessor's upper arms. "You are Kahlan Amnell, the Mother Confessor...the last of the Confessors. You are a smart, strong, confident woman who can handle anything that comes at her…and you're my friend.

"Go ahead with this spirit gathering because you want to and don't worry about Richard. You know he'll be there by your side the whole way. He's like a pathetic lovesick little puppy following you around anyway."

Kahlan threw herself into the Mord'Sith's arms, hugging her tightly and taking Cara by surprise. "Thank you, Cara," she whispered. "You're a good friend, aren't you?"

Cara swallowed hard, her arms slowly sliding around the Confessor and returning the embrace. If Kahlan only knew the truth, she wouldn't be hugging her right now and definitely wouldn't be calling her a friend.

XXX

Demos gasped in rapture as he buried himself deep within Mistress Sabina in one vicious stroke, fully sheathing himself to the hilt and nearly coming apart right there. Sabina cried out at the sudden violent intrusion, her fingers curling around the edge of the wooden desk that he had her bent over.

He gritted his teeth, a long sharp hiss escaping with how tight she was around him. He reached forward to grip her long black braid, yanking hard and wrenching her neck back. Her body bowed with the sudden fierce movement, her breasts thrusting out as his teeth sunk deep into her shoulder.

She cried out again at the painful angle he had her body locked in, her breaths coming in hot exerted gasps for air as he began to ruthlessly take her. Her fingernails dug even deeper into the desk, leaving groves in the wood as tears filled her throat and blurred her vision.

Demos pulled harder on her thick braid, winding it around his hand, her neck near breaking as he continued to thrust into her. "You're mine, Kahlan," he breathlessly growled in her ear. "Mine…only mine. Richard…is nothing…and I'm going…to prove it to you."

"Yes…my lord," Sabrina choked out, fighting back the tears that came harder and faster as he inched her and the desk across the floor with his brutal assault.

He had grown more and more violent with every punishing session together; making her wonder if she would even survive the next time. He had unfortunately become more than fascinated with her, probably because she resembled the Mother Confessor more than the other Sisters of the Agiel.

There was a part of her that actually felt pity for the Mother Confessor, knowing firsthand what lay in store for her once she was finally captured. If she knew what lay in store for her, Kahlan would take her own life now before Demos could get his perverse hands on her.

"I…will…break…you…Kahlan…Amnell…" he breathlessly punctuated each word with a ruthless thrust as he lustfully grunted and growled with the perverted pleasure that roared through his veins. He didn't know how much longer he could wait until Kahlan was finally here…until she was fully his in every way imaginable. "Beg me…for more…"

"More…please…my lord…I…I want…mo…more…of you…" she managed to utter between each spearing thrust that she swore was going to rip her body in two.

"As…you…wish…" he grunted with pleasure.

Her screams could be heard echoing outside of the throne room and down the corridor, the guards internally cringing at the sounds. After all of this time, they should have become more than accustomed to the horrifying sounds that they heard coming from behind the Lord Rahl's closed doors, but his cruelty still never ceased to astound even them.


	10. Chapter 10

**Ok, if you can survive the angst in the beginning, there's a very steamy ending. Thought we needed some true love to make up for the psychotic machinations of Demos Rahl from the last update. :)**

**Chapter 10**

Kahlan entered the dimly lit gathering hut followed closely by Richard, Zedd, and Cara. Richard was still whole-heartedly against this, but he knew that this was ultimately Kahlan's decision. He just hoped that he could protect her from the pain that he knew was about to come and any memories that might surface because of it.

He settled down on a wooden bench directly beside her, sensing the apprehension that was rolling off of her in waves. He also knew that she was still angry with him and he could hardly blame her. He was having a very difficult time with all of this, desperate to protect her from anymore heartache and yet wanting to help her regain her memories. It was a difficult struggle he just couldn't contain or win.

Cara and Zedd settled on the bench next to Richard as Tolla Nakunam entered with Odo, Mitta and the Council of the Elders who took their seats on the opposite side of the hut. Mitta swiftly moved to the middle of the gathering to stand next to the blue and green blazing fire that burned brightly, the sweet smoky scent of the wood filling the gathering hut.

Kahlan began to feel a wave of lightheadedness wash over her the longer she was there, the smoke growing thicker as Mitta began to chant indecipherable words that made little sense to her. She moved her hands from her lap to the bench on either side of her, her fingers curling nervously around the edge of the rough wood beneath her. She was beginning to second guess her decision to do this.

She felt her skin as it began to tingle, her vision tunneling as the image of Mitta and the fire shimmered and danced before her. She swallowed hard as she tightened her grip on the edge of the bench, her breathing growing ragged.

Everyone in the hut suddenly seemed to grow distant, the smoke becoming thicker as Kahlan fought to remain conscious. Her mind was spinning like a cyclone, her stomach churning like rough waters of a stormy sea as she clenched her jaw. Bile rose and burned in the back of her throat, but she fought it back down refusing to allow it come.

She had insisted on going through with this gathering and she was going to see it through to the bitter end, no matter what that end was. She needed her memories back and nothing else was working to unlock them.

Richard could feel Kahlan growing tenser with every passing moment, could sense the fierce struggle inside of her. His hand instinctively reached out for hers, pulling it free from the bench to hold it firmly in his. He wasn't going to let her go nor was he going to allow her to endure this alone. He was going to help her through this no matter what.

"I'm right here, Kahlan," he softly reassured her.

Mitta continued to chant her ancient Aku words; the timbre of her voice growing louder and yet more distant at the same time as she slowly disappeared from sight. The familiar sensation of being surrounded by an unseen presence began to well up within Richard again, reminding him of what had happened the last time.

His other hand fell to the hilt of his sword resting at his hip, knowing it was useless in a situation like this and yet feeling a little more secure knowing it was there and ready at a moment's notice. Even though he could no longer see them, he knew that Zedd and Cara were there to his right, ready to help if needed. It brought him a small measure of comfort knowing they were here with them this time.

The spirits of the Aku who had passed on suddenly filled the gathering hut, shadowy spirits hovering around them and speaking in hushed whispers and moans. It made his skin crawl, the fine hairs on the back of his neck prickling in response. It felt as if there were thousands of hands running over him, touching him and trying to pull at him.

It was as though a thousand voices were whispering their secrets to him. It made him tingle all over. He wanted to run away, escape the overwhelming sensations that were swarming over and around and through him, but he couldn't. He needed to stay here for Kahlan.

He felt Kahlan's hand tighten around his, her fingers practically digging into his skin. He wanted to stop all of this, make the madness go away, but he felt nearly paralyzed by whatever was happening here. He could hear Kahlan's breathing growing more erratic, more labored by the moment.

He needed to hold her, wanted to make sure that she was alright, but he couldn't make his body work as the voices began to grow louder. Murmured indecipherable words morphed into dark tormented wails that caused his insides to twist and tighten.

He could feel the magic of the sword coming alive in response to the magic that swarmed so powerfully inside the gathering hut. He wondered how Zedd and Cara were fairing through this. Whatever answers they were supposed to receive from this would hopefully come sooner than later. He didn't know how much longer he could take the forces that seemed to be pulling at him from every side and yet crushing him.

Kahlan could feel hot tears beginning to trickle down her face and dripping from her chin. She tried to tamp down on the fear swelling inside of her knowing that she had wanted to do this in order to find a way to get her memories back. She'd do whatever it took to restore her life, to get back what had been stolen from her not only for herself but for Richard. She owed him that much.

She couldn't stop the icy shiver that suddenly tore through her, doing her best to ignore the feeling as though thousands of hands were touching her, running their fingers through her hair and over her skin. She leaned forward and grabbed her head, wishing that it would all just end.

A sudden bright light flashed before her eyes nearly blinding her as the dark outline of a man coming towards her took shape in the midst of the smoke. She instantly went rigid, knowing that this must be Darken Rahl. She steeled herself as he drew closer, refusing to let him intimidate her.

He was the spitting image of his twin Demos down to the black hair and goatee, the evil glint in his dark eyes as he stared solely at her. It felt like he could see right into her very soul, peeling back all of the layers and forcing himself into her mind.

"Kahlan Amnell," Darken drawled with pleasure as he grinned wickedly at her, his eyes roaming over her. "So good to see you again. It's been far too long."

"Not nearly long enough," she bit out as she leapt to her feet, Richard right there by her side in less than a heartbeat.

Darken chuckled with her hostility. "So you do remember me after all?"

"Enough," she stated with a sneer.

"I hope you remember all the good times that we've shared and not the times that we fought," he playfully teased with a pout.

"What do you want, Rahl?" Richard demanded, clutching Kahlan's hand in his.

"I just wanted to see how our dear Kahlan was holding up what with the nasty little spell our brother put on her. I guess when I told you he had placed a marking spell on her I had failed to mention it was a multi-layer spell, but I guess you've figured it out by now."

Richard took a threatening step towards him, wanting to get his hands on him more than anything and yet knowing there was nothing he could do to stop him. "Why are you here?"

"Just a social visit," Darken said as he stared at Kahlan. "I wanted to see how Kahlan was coping without her memories and to let you know that I will be seeing you both very soon."

Richard bristled with his brother's words, the words of the prophecy echoing in his mind. "We don't intend on going to the Underworld any time soon."

A sly grin spread across Darken Rahl's face, his image shimmering in the blue-green fire that surrounded him. "I am not talking about you. I'm the one who will be getting out of the Underworld and when I do I am coming after the two of you."

"There is no way for you to escape from the Underworld," Richard declared with self-assurance, his hand finding the hilt of his sword, his other still clutching Kahlan's in a death-grip.

Rahl chuckled as he clasped his hands in front of him. "Oh, there is a way, my dear brother, and I have found it. It's only a matter of time now and when I am finally free, I'm going to rid the world of the Seeker, Mother Confessor, and my twin brother Demos. No one will stand in my way ever again."

"I will do whatever it takes to make sure you never leave the Underworld," Richard ground out.

Rahl just stared at him with great pleasure, knowing he was getting under his brother's skin. He could see doubt beginning to fill the Seeker's intense gaze, uncertainty about whether he could really escape the Underworld or not.

"There is a deadly storm coming, brother, and I'm afraid that it's coming for you," Darken ominously revealed, his dark gaze shifting to Kahlan, a leering smirk on his lips. "Enjoy her while you can because she will soon be taken from you and there will be nothing you can do to stop it."

Richard lunged at him with a growl, his teeth clenched with fury. "You will never touch her again."

"We'll just see about that," Rahl avowed. "You two can run, but you will soon be found by someone that neither of you can defeat. You cannot escape what is about to come for you."

The Seeker felt an icy shiver lance through him, Darken's words causing cold fear to course through his veins. If someone was truly coming for him and Kahlan, he needed to get her to Aydindril as soon as possible where she would be safe.

He couldn't allow anything to happen to her. Losing her meant losing his very life.

Before Richard could even form a response, Darken Rahl disappeared from view. Kahlan released Richard's hand, backing up to sit down on the bench again. She held her head in her hands as she leaned forward, the things that Rahl had said to them rattling her to her very core.

Someone was coming for them, coming to take Richard away from her. She couldn't bear the thought of something happening to him, losing the one thing in this world that made her feel whole and complete regardless of her lack of memory. He was her rock, holding her together when it felt like everything else in her life was crumbling down around her.

Feeling someone in front of her, Kahlan lifted her head to look into Richard's worried face, his dark brown eyes filled with such love it made her heart stutter in her chest as the thick smoke slowly began to dissipate around them.

"Kahlan, it'll be alright," he gently reassured her, his fingers wrapping around her upper arms. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

"It's not me that I'm worried about," she replied, tears beginning to trickle down her cheeks. "They're coming for you too, Richard. I couldn't bear it if something happens to you."

"Nothing is going to happen to me," he swore to her, his gaze intense, his voice hard as steel. "We need to get you to Aydindril, though, as soon as possible. The sooner I can get you there, the safer you will be."

"Are you two alright?" Zedd asked, worry permeating his voice. "What happened?"

Richard stood to his feet to face Zedd, Cara, and Tolla who had gathered around them. "Darken Rahl showed up again."

"Bags!" Zedd angrily cursed. "What did he want this time?"

"He said he's found a way to escape the Underworld," Richard informed them. "He also said that there is a storm coming for us, someone we won't be able to defeat this time."

"We need to leave for Aydindril right now," Cara stated, folding her arms against her chest. "You'll both be safer there."

"I agree with Cara," Zedd confirmed. "You'll have the backing of the entire Aydindril army. Did Rahl give any clue as to who was coming for you?"

"No…nothing more," Richard ground out, raking his fingers back through his hair. "Even though he's dead and in the Underworld, Darken Rahl still manages to interfere in our lives."

The fury that simmered just beneath the surface was more than palpable, the Seeker's raptor gaze practically burning through the smoke that still lingered within the gathering hut. They understood his anger and frustration, shared it.

"Were you able to get any answers about Confessor Kahlan's memories?" Tolla asked, hoping that something good may have come out of this gathering.

"I have a vague memory of being in this place before for a gathering with Richard," Kahlan revealed, wiping the tears from her face as she stood to her feet. "Darken Rahl appeared to us then, but I'm afraid that's all that I remember about it."

"Hey, that's something, Kahlan," Richard told her, sensing that she was holding something more back. "We'll keep working at it until we get them all back. Right now, though, I think we better leave for Aydindril."

"It'll have to be in the morning," Tolla informed them. "It's already nightfall. It will be far too dangerous to try to leave now."

"We'll leave at sunrise tomorrow then," the Seeker agreed.

"I'll double patrol outside of the village tonight just to be safe," Tolla decided. "Let's get you all something to eat so you can get a good night's rest before you need to leave tomorrow."

"Now that sounds like a good idea to me," Zedd agreed with a grin as he rubbed his belly. "I'm absolutely famished."

"When aren't you famished, Wizard?" Cara scowled as they began to make their way out of the gathering hut.

"I must admit that I am very saddened by the fact that you all will be leaving us tomorrow," Tolla confessed. "I understand your need to leave, but you have all become like family to us."

Richard's hand came to rest on Tolla's shoulder, squeezing it gently. "I know," he admitted. "I feel the same way. I wish we didn't have to leave either."

There was a part of him that wished he could just take the whole village with them to Aydindril, but he knew that was impossible. He promised himself once Demos had been destroyed and he and Kahlan were married, they would come back to visit the Aku.

Right now, though, he had to focus on this horrible storm that was about to converge on them.

XXX

Richard returned to the Spirit House after talking to Tolla Nakunam about the best route to take in the morning to avoid any more entanglements with the D'Haran soldiers. He had told him about a route that would lead them through the woods to the west and away from where they'd last seen Demos's men. It was rougher terrain and thicker woods, but it would hopefully keep them concealed.

Entering, he found Kahlan sitting before the fire, lost in her thoughts. The brooding expression on her face told him that she was struggling with what had happened in the gathering hut, her focus only on the orange flames before her.

He stood there for several moments just watching her, wondering if she even knew that he was there with her. She looked so beautiful sitting there, the flames of the fire casting a warm glow over her flawless features. He felt an overwhelming pull in the pit of his stomach drawing him to her, wanting her again.

"Kahlan," he called to her as he closed the distance, coming to sit down beside her. "Are you alright?"

She slowly shook her head, her throat suddenly constricting tightly and making it difficult to breathe. "No," she murmured, her bottom lip trembling with the fear that still coursed through her. "I'm so sorry I made you go through that gathering, Richard. Because of me, you had to see Darken Rahl again…and now there's someone coming after you."

"It's not your fault that Darken Rahl showed up or that Demos is sending someone after us," Richard reassured her, his arm wrapping around her shoulders. "I know you don't remember it yet, but there has always been someone chasing us ever since the day we first met. In fact, you were being chased by a D'Haran Quad when I first laid eyes on you."

"I remember you told me about that day," she admitted. "I wish I could remember it."

"What is it, Kahlan?" he asked her, brushing her hair away from her face. "There's something more that you're not telling me."

Kahlan turned her head away from him, her eyes glistening with a fresh wash of tears. "I…I remembered something about what Darken Rahl did to me when I was in the Underworld."

Richard froze, his insides twisting knowing now that she remembered the horrifying things that Rahl had done to her…what he had been about to do to her. "What exactly do you remember?"

"I don't remember everything that happened," she explained, real fear creeping into her voice as a tear slipped silently down her cheek. "When Rahl appeared in the gathering house this afternoon, I just remembered flashes of him…touching me…in places I didn't want him to. I couldn't make him stop no matter what I did."

"It's okay, Kahlan," he gently told her. "You don't have to tell me anymore. I already know what he did to you because you told me."

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, turning to face him again.

The hurt in her eyes was almost too much to bear as she stared at him waiting for an answer. He gently brushed away the tear with his thumb as he fought for the words to explain it to her. "There's so much that has happened to you…to us over the years. I don't even know where to start sometimes. I should've warned you before we went in there, but I honestly didn't know if you would remember or not."

"I remember the fear, the humiliation…the embarrassment," she murmured. "I remember wanting him to stop hurting him, but he…he…"

"Kahlan," he whispered as he pulled her into his arms. "Don't…please. I don't want you to relive that."

"I can't do this, Richard," she softly said as she tightened her hold on him. "I don't know if I want to know what else I've been through if it's like what Darken Rahl did to me. I don't know if I'm strong enough to relive all of this."

"You are the strongest woman I have ever met, Kahlan," he reassured her, rubbing her back. "If anyone can handle this, it's you, but you don't have to do it alone. I'm going to be right here with you."

"How much longer is this nightmare going to last?" she asked as she pulled back to look into his eyes. "When will we be left alone to just live the life that we want in peace?"

Richard shook his head as his heart broke with her questions, her voice thick with the pain she carried inside of her. "I truly wish that I knew, Kahlan, but I promise that I'll do whatever it takes to make sure we have that future together that we want."

She released a long slow breath, fighting to rein in her fears and frustrations. She needed to be strong right now no matter how she felt her world was collapsing on the inside. She pressed her forehead to his, her eyes falling closed as she just savored his presence and absorbed his strength.

"Make love to me, Richard," she murmured, her hand coming to rest against the side of his face, his stubble rough against the palm of her hand. "Please…I need you so much right now."

The pleading note to her voice reached down deep into his soul. Kahlan's deep-seated need for him resonated with his own desperate need for her, overwhelming him and pushing him over the edge. His fingers quickly tangled in her thick hair, his lips capturing hers in response to her request, aching to ease her heartache and find solace in one another's embrace.

Kahlan tilted her head and parted her lips, desperate to give herself fully to him in every way all over again. She needed to feel his strength, his love and his passion for her, to feel every single bit of him filling her so very full. She needed to know that everything was going to be alright if only for a little while though they both knew it was far from it right now.

The kiss started out sweet and tender, reassuring and comforting. The slow sensual slide of his tongue repeatedly against hers was driving her crazy with a building need for more from him. She shifted closer to him, crawling into his lap and allowing her knees to come to rest on either side of his hips.

Richard's hands slipped from her luscious hair to wrap around her waist as their kisses grew more passionate…demanding. Kahlan cupped his face with her hands as she rose up on her knees, silently imploring him to touch her where she wanted him most, filling the hollow ache between her legs.

He knew exactly what she wanted and he didn't make her wait as his fingers moved to softly caress her thighs before pushing her blue dress up to bunch around her waist. His hands gripped her backside firmly, squeezing her repeatedly as she continued to kiss him, her tongue thoroughly exploring every square inch of his mouth.

Richard groaned as he found her slick wet heat, turning him on even more as his fingers easily slipped inside of her. She was already more than ready for him. It wasn't going to take much to bring her to completion, but he was going to fully enjoy every single moment of pleasuring her.

He set a slow steady rhythm as they continued to kiss and touch, her hands gripping his face even harder as her hips began to move with him. She wanted so much more. Deeper…faster…harder. Her lips suddenly broke away from his with a sharp gasp, her breaths coming shorter and quicker as he increased his tempo.

His other hand moved to the tie of her dress, pulling it to free her perfect breasts and tossing it aside. His mouth immediately captured her nipple, raking his teeth over the pink flesh before sucking hard and causing her to cry out. Her body began to tremble as he continued to work her into a heated frenzy, desperately trying to ignore the painfully hard arousal in his pants.

Kahlan threw her head back, her raven hair cascading down her spine as she rocked on her knees. Her breaths were coming hard and fast now, her heart about to pound out of her chest as he suckled her breast, his fingers skillfully finding that spot deep inside of her that always made her scream.

"Rich…ard…" she panted, her chest heaving as a hot flush crept over her fair skin with the rapture that he was building inside of her.

Her hands moved to grip his shoulders, her fingers curling into the soft blue fabric of his shirt as she clutched at him. "Richard…please…" she whimpered, sweat glistening on her skin. "I need you…inside of me…now."

"I am inside of you," he teased her as he placed biting kisses along her bare shoulder.

Kahlan growled low in her throat, a groan of disappointment escaping as his fingers left her body. "You…you know what I mean…what I want."

Richard reached down to unlace his pants as Kahlan removed his shirt, more than anxious to feel his skin pressed against hers. She sat back on her heels long enough for him to remove his pants and boots before she quickly settled on his lap once more.

The feel of his hard arousal beneath her was almost too much to bear. She wanted him inside of her now, to feel every ounce of his passion in his every stroke. Her hands found his shoulders again, her lips devouring his as she ground her hips against his.

The feel of her moist heat rubbing against him was driving him insane as his hands seized hold of her waist to halt her movements. His mouth latched onto the point where her shoulder met her neck, sucking hard and causing her to gasp.

His hands splayed over her back as he swiftly laid her back on the bedroll, shifting his hips and sheathing himself in one powerful thrust. Kahlan's entire body instantly bowed, her neck arching and her eyes rolling back in her head as she cried out in ecstasy at the feel of him so hard and hot inside of her.

She dug her fingernails into his back as she clung to him, pressing her breasts into his chest as he began to move. She lifted her long legs, drawing her knees up closer against her body and allowing him to sink even further inside of her. She didn't think he could get any deeper and yet he had managed to, neither knowing where one ended and the other began as they became one in every way.

All of the fears and frustrations, the questions and uncertainties were rapidly forced away from her heart and mind with every powerful slam of his hips against hers as he poured everything he felt into her. Nothing else mattered in that sweet moment except for her and him and the love they were expressing.

They were going to get through this one way or another and nothing was going to tear them apart.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"I don't even know how I can begin to thank you for all that you and your people have done for us," Richard said as he shook the Aku leader's hand.

"No thank you is needed, Seeker Richard," Tolla told him with a shake of his head. "I wish you could stay with us, but I understand your need to leave. I hope Confessor Kahlan will be well again soon."

"Me too," Richard agreed, casting a sidelong glance at the woman who owned his heart. "We will come back to visit you someday."

"Maybe you will be bringing your children with you at that time," Tolla teased, clapping him firmly on the shoulder with a knowing grin. "She should be with child by now as much love as you two have shared already."

Richard tried to contain his own grin, but failed miserably. "I'd love nothing more."

"Be safe in your journey," Tolla told him, "and if you ever need help, you always know where to come."

"I do," Richard agreed with a nod, "and if there's ever anything you need, you know you are always welcome in Aydindril."

"Thank you," Tolla replied with a glint of mischief in his dark eyes. "Do not be surprised if I show up at your door someday."

"I truly hope you do," the Seeker told him.

Richard turned to Kahlan who was saying goodbye to Caref. It was more than difficult having to say goodbye to these friends, but he needed to get her to safety before he lost her forever to whatever his brothers had sent after them. He shuddered to think of what it could be this time.

"We better get moving," Richard told Kahlan, his hand instinctively reaching for her, a sudden overwhelming need to just touch her washing over him.

She gave him the special smile that she reserved only for him as she followed him to where Zedd and Cara were waiting for them, impatience written all over the Mord'Sith's face. He knew she was chomping at the bit to get out of here and on their way to Aydindril.

"Are we finally ready?" Cara huffed, never one to hide her annoyance.

"Yes, Cara," Richard sighed. "We're ready to go now. Did you say goodbye to your friend Temin?"

"Yes," Cara snapped. "Now, I want Zedd in front and I'll follow from behind with you two safely in the middle. I'm not taking any chances. I want to be ready for an ambush."

"Cara, neither one of us is helpless," Richard reminded her as they began to make their way into the woods that surrounded the Aku village. "Just because Kahlan doesn't have her memories doesn't mean that she no longer has her Confessor magic or how to use it."

"I know that," she shot back. "I'm still not taking any chances."

"Just let her go," Kahlan softly murmured to Richard. "If it makes her feel better, then I happily walk with you."

He gave her a crooked smile as he interlaced his fingers with her. "You know I'm really going to miss that Spirit House."

Kahlan's cheeks grew warm with the heated look he was giving her. She hooked a raven lock behind her ear, averting her eyes in embarrassment. "There are some very treasured measures that I'll take with me from there."

"I told you that I'd help you make some new memories," he reminded her with a satisfied smirk.

"Hopefully, they'll be good memories for you too," she said.

"You have no idea, Kahlan," he reassured her. "I will never forget the time spent there alone with you. It was beyond incredible in every way imaginable."

"It's a wonder she's not with child yet as much as you two were going at it," Cara interjected.

"Cara," Richard scowled, looking back at her over his shoulder.

"What?" she asked with a mischeivious shrug.

"Aren't you supposed to be watching for trouble?"

"I am," she claimed, her fingers circling the agiel hanging at her waist.

"Richard, are you sure it's safe to go to Aydindril?" Kahlan asked, her forehead creased with worry. "Won't they know that's where we'll go now?"

"Hopefully, we can avoid running into whoever Demos sent after us," Richard replied, his free hand settling on the hilt of his sword resting in the scabbard at his hip. "If we can just get to Aydindril, you'll be safe. Aydindril has a massive army that will do anything to protect the Mother Confessor."

"I have to admit that I'm rather concerned about whatever it is Demos and Darken are up to now," Zedd announced. "Demos is dabbling in some pretty dark occult magic. There's no telling what trouble he's concocted to send our way."

"After coming face to face with those wolf creatures from the Underworld, I can't begin to imagine how much worse it could get," Richard bit out, internally shuddering with the memory. He had seriously thought they weren't going to survive that encounter.

"If I ever see another one of those again, it'll be too soon," Kahlan agreed with a shiver. "I can't imagine what else we've run into that I can't remember."

"Once we get to Aydindril, we'll work on getting your memories back," Richard promised her. "I'm not giving up until we remove that damn spell. Besides, we have a wedding to plan, Confessor."

Kahlan smiled at him, excitement suddenly bubbling up within. "I'd love that as long as you don't mind a wife without any memory if we can't get it back."

"I have never wanted anything more in my life than I've wanted to marry you," he assured her.

"You two are making me sick," Cara groused from behind. "I'm going to go scout ahead. Try to keep your eyes on your surroundings instead of each other."

"Well that didn't take long for her to get sick of us," Kahlan said with a laugh.

"So what kind of wedding do you want to have?" Richard asked.

A thoughtful expression veiled her face as she considered his question. "I think something small with friends and family."

Richard noticed the sadness that suddenly filled her blue eyes, her expression growing solemn. "What's worry, Kahlan?"

"I don't even know anything about my family or yours," she softly admitted. "Do I have brothers or sisters?"

Richard averted his eyes, trying to find the words to tell her…the words that seemed to stick and burn in his throat. It was beyond difficult having to look into those blue eyes that he adored and be forced to tell her she had no one, but them…him.

"Richard, please tell me," she coaxed him, her chest growing tight with fear. "I need to know about my family."

He watched as Zedd walked ahead at a faster pace, giving them some space so he could talk to her which he appreciated. He reached over and took her hand in his as they continued to walk, silently providing her the strength she was going to need to hear what he had to tell her.

"Your mother was the Mother Confessor at one time," he began, his heart already beginning to hurt with what he was about to reveal to her. "She confessed your father in order to have daughters to carry on the line of Confessors. Your mother had two daughters – you and then Dennee."

"I have a younger sister?" Kahlan asked, her blue eyes lighting up at the thought.

"Yes," he continued, "but I'm afraid she was killed when Darken Rahl ordered the Mord'Sith to kill all of the Confessors. I'm sorry, Kahlan, but Dennee was killed several months ago."

Tears instantly stung her eyes with the unexpected news, her throat constricting. "What about my mother and father?" she managed to ask.

"Kahlan," Richard said as he pulled her to a stop. "We don't have to talk about this now. We can talk about it later tonight after we set up camp if you want."

Kahlan swallowed hard, clearing her throat. "No, I need to know, Richard," she stubbornly insisted. "No matter how terrible it is, it's a part of my life…who I am."

"Your mother died when you were four and Dennee was three," he continued. "When she died, your father was freed from the confession. When he realized what had happened to him, he was so furious that he took his anger and resentment for your mother out on you and Dennee. He used you and your sister to steal and manipulate people. If you didn't obey, he'd tie you both up with rope.

"Fortunately, the Sisters of the Light found you and rescued you, taking you and Dennee away from him. Later, you were taken to the Confessor's Palace to train to be a Confessor."

She drew a shuddering breath, struggling with the conflicting emotions building inside of her. "So my father is still alive?"

"Yes, I believe that he's still alive somewhere, but you haven't seen him since you were a little girl," he informed her, his hand coming to rest against her cheek. "I'm so sorry, Kahlan. I know this couldn't have been easy to hear."

"Thank you for telling me, Richard," she whispered, feeling the unwanted tears rising in her throat again. She had asked him to tell her. She had wanted to know, but now she almost wished she hadn't.

"I wish I could take away your pain," he softly admitted. "I love you so much, Kahlan. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you."

"I know," she murmured. "I love you too."

"You two want to get yourselves killed?" Cara yelled as she suddenly circled around behind them. "We need to keep moving."

"Cara…" Richard growled, angered by the Mord'Sith's intrusion.

"No, it's alright, Richard," Kahlan affirmed. "Cara is right. We need to keep moving if we're ever going to get to Aydindril."

Richard watched as Kahlan turned away from him to follow after Zedd, a frown on his face. Cara came up beside him, an equally frustrated frown on her lips. "She has to find out some time," she reminded him. "She can't be kept in the dark about everything that's happened in her life."

"I just don't know if I can bear to watch her relive all the heartache she's been through," he confessed as they began to follow Kahlan and Zedd.

"At least you can be there for her," she pointed out. "You don't have to worry about her finding out that you killed her sister."

Richard's head snapped to the side to stare at the Mord'Sith. "Cara, you don't have to worry about that. Kahlan already forgave you for that. She saved your life."

"But she doesn't remember any of it," Cara said with a scowl. "What if she can't forgive me this time?"

"You know how compassionate and forgiving Kahlan is. Once she learns the truth, she'll find a way to accept it and deal with it again."

"I hope so," she muttered, unconvinced.

XXX

Sister Nicci's gaze was locked on the mountains to the west, her mind working to figure out where the Seeker and Mother Confessor could be at that moment. They had gotten reports that a squad of D'Haran soldiers had never returned from this area, giving her more cause to believe that the Seeker and Confessor was here.

They had found evidence of a fight, but no bodies. She looked down at the D'Haran sword lying forgotten in the tall grasses, dried blood on the blade that glinted in the sunlight. There was no doubt in her mind that the Seeker had been involved in this fight. The problem now was discovering which direction they had gone now.

She knew that they'd try to get back to Aydindril. It was the most logical place for them to run to now. The most difficult part was trying to figure out which direction they would go. They would avoid the most obvious, direct routes knowing that D'Haran soldiers and Mord'Sith alike would be patrolling it heavily.

"What are you think about, Sister Nicci?"

Nicci turned to find Sister Tash standing beside her, a curious look in her eyes. "I'm going to put a tracer cloud on the Seeker. We don't have time to run all over the territory trying to find them. I want the Seeker and Mother Confessor now."

A shiver trembled through Tash as she witnessed the fierce resolve in her fellow Sister of the Dark. She could practically feel the powerful magic thrumming through her, the very air around her almost crackling with the sheer intensity of it. It was both frightening as well as incredible to witness.

"Do you really think it will work?" Tash finally asked.

"It will work," Nicci confidently replied. "Once I cast the tracking spell, there is no place that the Seeker can hide that I won't be able to find him."

Tash folded her arms against her chest in an effort to suppress another shiver. She still wasn't sure exactly why Darken Rahl had chosen her to keep a close eye on Sister Nicci, but she was going to do her best no matter what.

"If anyone can find him, I know you can do it."

Nicci studied the young novice for a moment, her green eyes narrowing. There was something different about her lately, something that raised her suspicions of her. She had been staying closer to her recently, never far from her side. Something had changed. She was going to have to keep an eye on her from now on.

"Thank you, Sister Tash," Nicci evenly said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a spell to cast."

Tash watched her as she walked away, hoping she was doing the right thing. She felt immense loyalty to her fellow Sisters of the Dark and yet she couldn't ignore the command of Darken Rahl. She felt torn by duty and devotion.

At least for the moment, there wasn't anything that she had to act on yet. Nicci had been acting the same since they'd cast the spell to draw her back into the service of the Keeper – driven and cold, committed to the mission.

She couldn't help but wishing there was someone she could confide in, though, someone she could talk to and help her keep watch over Sister Nicci. She guessed that she could talk to her friend Sister Iriana. She was no longer a novice like her, but she was still young and closer to her own age.

Iriana had just recently become a full Sister of the Dark and would hopefully understand the burdensome task that had unexpectedly been thrust upon her. She felt a certain peace wash over her with her decision, knowing that her friend might be able to help her now.

With a plan set firmly in mind to talk to Iriana, Tash quietly made her way to where Sister Nicci was sitting in the grass with her back to her, soft chanting words began to drift on the breeze…words that would hopefully bring them that much closer to the Seeker and Mother Confessor.

XXX

"Well, I think we made some pretty good time today," Zedd said with a yawn as he stretched his lanky legs out in front of him by the fire, his hands clasping behind his head.

"We should've kept going," Cara groused as she stirred the stew pot.

"Come now, Cara," Zedd coaxed. "We didn't run into any trouble today. That's a good thing, don't you think?"

"That doesn't mean that we won't run into it tomorrow. It seems to follow those two everywhere we go."

Zedd glanced over where Richard was stacking some firewood for the night. "Always the pessimist, Cara."

"No, I'm a realist," she maintained, dishing up a bowl of rabbit stew and handing it to Zedd.

"This is edible isn't it?" he asked, eyeing the bowl warily.

"Yes, it's edible," Cara snapped. "I've gotten better at this."

"We'll see about that," the Wizard retorted as he brought it to his nose to sniff at it.

Cara stood up, her hands finding her hips as she leveled him with a glare. "You are not going to die from eating my cooking," she growled.

"Well, I haven't died yet, but who knows about tomorrow," Zedd shot back, knowing he was getting under the Mord'Sith's skin.

"I hope you choke on it, Wizard," she grumbled with a scowl on her lips as she took her bowl of stew to sit on the opposite side of the fire from him.

"Cara, I'm only teasing you," he told her as he took a large bite. "It's actually very tasty. Richard…Kahlan, come eat Cara's stew. It's pretty good this time."

"Let's eat," Richard told Kahlan. "We can finish setting up camp later."

"I'm not hungry right now," she replied, straightening up with her pack in hand. "I'm going to the stream to get cleaned up."

"Kahlan, you haven't eaten anything all day," Richard said with a frown. "Besides, I don't like the idea of you going to the stream by yourself. We have no idea what Demos has sent after us."

"Richard, I'll be fine…I promise," she told him, capturing his hand in an all too brief squeeze of reassurance. "I won't be gone long. Why don't you save me a bowl of stew? Maybe I'll be hungry when I get back."

Before Kahlan could fully turn away from him, Richard grabbed her arm, pulling her flush against him. "I could come with you…help you get cleaned up," he murmured low before brushing his lips against her cheekbone.

She had been more than quiet all day since learning about what had happened to her family, causing him to fear he had made a terrible mistake by telling her everything at once like that. He was worried that she'd end up resenting him for being the one to tell her all of the horrible things that she'd been forced to endure over the years. He only wanted to bring her happiness, never tears.

"Maybe next time," she whispered with a faint smile. "I just need some time to myself right now."

She quickly turned away, disappearing into the woods before he could respond. He watched her leave with a heavy heart, wanting to go after her and yet knowing that she just needed some time to process everything she'd learned. He hated how hard this was on her, how it was hurting her to relive the pain of a life that she'd already had to live through.

Once had been hard enough without being forced to go through it all over again, especially all at once.

He finally forced himself to turn away, knowing that he couldn't push her to talk to him right now. He made his way to the stew pot, ladling a bowl full before settling down on the ground next to Zedd with a ragged sigh.

Zedd cast a sidelong glance at him, knowing how both Richard and Kahlan were wrestling with all of this. The pain that Kahlan felt, Richard was feeling it just as deeply if not more so with the helplessness that besieged him. They were bound to one another in heart and soul.

"Just give her a little time, my boy. It's not easy to suddenly learn that your family is dead and the only one alive is a vile excuse for a human being let alone a father."

"I swear if we ever cross paths with her father, I'm going to beat him for what he did to her," Richard angrily ground out.

"I'm by no means excusing what he did to his daughters, but I can't imagine how terrible it must be to suddenly find yourself released from confession, a portion of your life gone, your dreams and plans for the future forever changed."

"That does not give him the right to abuse his own daughters like that," Richard spat out.

"I'm not saying it does, but I imagine it was still quite a shock," Zedd said. "None of us know how we would truly react if it had happened to us."

"I would be furious, but I wouldn't hurt my own daughters or use them like that to make a profit," Richard bit out, growing angrier by the moment the longer this conversation went on.

"What about when you were confessed by Annabelle?" Zedd prodded a little further. "You can't tell me that if you ended up staying confessed to her, married and had a daughter with her that you wouldn't be furious about the life that you had missed out on with Kahlan."

Richard's stomach twisted with the scenario Zedd had just described, the thought of never breaking from Annabelle's confession unbearable. It caused his heart to pound in his chest, his pulse racing with dread. He couldn't bear the thought of losing even one moment of time with Kahlan or having a baby with a woman who wasn't her.

Kahlan had raced through his woods and right into his heart, becoming his everything. He couldn't lose that…lose her.

"I still would never hurt my child…no matter who the mother was," Richard softly said, his gaze focused on his bowl of untouched stew.

"Well, hopefully we'll never have to see Kahlan's father," Cara cut in, relieving some of the tension that had suddenly surrounded the campsite.

"I just don't know how much more I should tell her now," Richard admitted.

"You can't lie to her," Cara advised. "She'll never be able to trust us if we try to conceal anything even if we do feel it's for her own good."

"Cara's right," Zedd agreed, reaching forward to refill his now empty bowl. "As difficult as we know it's going to be for her, she has the right to know. All we can do is tell her the truth and be there for her the best we can."

Richard grew quiet for several moments before finally speaking again. "What is it going to be like for her if you are suddenly able to unlock her memories? They're all going to come like a dam abruptly breaking free in her brain. How is that going to be safe for her?"

"I have to admit that I'm rather concerned about how Kahlan is going to be able to handle it if I'm able to unlock her memories," Zedd thoughtfully revealed. "There is a chance that by unlocking the spell it could unleash a storm that her mind might not be able to handle. However, the alternative could be true."

"What alternative?" Cara asked.

"Demos's spell that removed her memories could end up causing her mind to deteriorate even if we don't do anything," Zedd informed them.

Richard set his bowl aside before getting to his feet, needing to see her right now…to hold her and touch her. "I have to go check on Kahlan. She's been gone for too long."

XXX

Kahlan sat on a log by the stream, staring at nothing at all. Her thoughts were running rampant with the things that Richard had told her and yet her mind felt so incredibly numb. She couldn't begin to process how she had lost so much during her life.

Her mother was gone, her sister…her father only spirits knew where, but he was a horrible excuse for a man.

She was all alone in this world – an orphan with no family.

She didn't know how to cope with that, where she actually fit into the world now. Nothing made sense to her anymore. Of course, it wasn't like she understood what was going on in her life right now anyway, but it suddenly seemed even worse if that was possible, more desolate.

Just when she thought that she couldn't possibly feel more lost, she suddenly found she did.

The only constant she had in her life right now was Richard. He was her rock, keeping her grounded when she felt like she was being swept away in a raging sea of utter chaos and turmoil. Leaning forward, she held her head in her hands, trying to fight back the nagging headache that had settled behind her eyes.

She wished that she could just remember everything so she wouldn't feel so confused and yet she couldn't help fearing what else she didn't know.

Hearing a noise, Kahlan suddenly sat up, looking to find someone standing several feet away from her. She quickly stood to her feet, a confused expression on her face. "Who are you and what do you want?"

The woman smiled at her, something arrogant and knowing. "You don't remember me, but you soon will," she said. "I have come for you."

"I asked who you are," she demanded.

"You may call me…Shota," the witch woman pleasantly replied.


End file.
